August 16, 2017 @ 10:32 am By JD Alois  |  

Last month, the European Commission, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets division, launched a consultation on non-performing loans being held by banks. The Commission is seeking feedback on the development of secondary markets for distressed debt. Policymakers view this as essential in tackling the… Read More

July 23, 2017 @ 2:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

CrowdfundRES is a group of policy recommendations to improve the regulatory and market framework to boost investment in renewable energy across the European Union. A group of 14 different partners worked on the project that saw the participation of the European Crowdfunding Network and four… Read More

July 17, 2017 @ 8:30 am By Erin Hobey  |  

“As the industry matures and looks to grow beyond a base of early adopters, I believe a focus on clarity will best help us to attract new investors.” Growth Street, an FCA-authorized UK business finance platform focusing on SME loans, has aimed to become a… Read More

July 6, 2017 @ 4:53 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Record levels of venture capital investment at the start of 2017 has helped London retain its crown as Europe’s number one tech hub for global investors, according to new data from London & Partners, the Mayor of London’s promotional agency. “London remains Europe’s leading hub… Read More

June 28, 2017 @ 4:07 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

With Brexit talks taking place this week between the UK and European Union (EU), CEO of TransferWise, Taavet Hinrikus sat down with CNBC to discuss the UK’s soon departure from the EU and what could happen to London.  During the interview, Hinrikus stated: “One regulator… Read More

March 30, 2017 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Embedded below is the letter UK Prime Minister Theresa May sent to European Council President Donald Tusk initiating Article 50 and thus commencing the UK’s departure from the European Union. The final results of negotiations will have a profound impact on both the UK and continental Europe’s… Read More

March 20, 2017 @ 2:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

In Europe, the cultural and creative sectors (CCS) are not very familiar with crowdfunding. In order to better understand and evaluate the potential of crowdfunding for creatives and cultural organizations, the European Commission has launched Crowdfunding4Culture. The initiative seeks to pinpoint what actions public authorities should take… Read More

March 15, 2017 @ 2:55 am By JD Alois  |  

Early stage companies need funding to launch and grow. That is a fact. But early stage companies are the riskiest of firms and thus unable to attract debt or bank financing. The solution is to ask friends, families and, perhaps, angel investors to provide equity… Read More

February 1, 2017 @ 10:55 am By JD Alois  |  

Spanish Off-grid Eco-Complex Mar de Fulles Voted Best Contributor to Sustainable Energy Future Community energy portal Citizenergy announced its 2016 Project of the Year Award to Spanish crowdfunding platform ECrowd! and the Mar de Fulles eco-complex during an event in Brussels. Citizenergy lauded the two company’s outstanding… Read More

January 29, 2017 @ 2:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Crowdfunding Network (ECN), a pan-European alternative finance advocacy group, is asking members to participate regarding input on the Capital Markets Union.  Specifically, the ECN will be working with the Directorate‑General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA) regarding input on… Read More

January 26, 2017 @ 8:33 am By JD Alois  |  

The European Parliament has published a report entitled: Crowdfunding in Europe – Introduction and State of Play. The short document is basically a synopsis on the status of crowdfunding in Europe. The report notes that while crowdfunding has grown rapidly, much of this growth has occurred in… Read More

December 31, 2016 @ 4:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Commission has announced the appointment of a group of individuals to advise on sustainable finance. The initiative is part of the ongoing Capital Markets Union (CMU) which took a serious blow following the Brexit decision.  The intent of the expert group is to… Read More

December 27, 2016 @ 6:20 pm By Jessica Pham  |  

Backed by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation grant, the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) initiative aims to bring together investors and entrepreneurs to work on research and design projects focused on technology that advance European interests domestically and internationally. The Horizon 2020… Read More

December 23, 2016 @ 1:14 pm By Jessica Pham  |  

Weapons present in the South China Sea.  The U.S. backs out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. South Korea’s president facing impeachment.  Duterte wins the Philippines presidential election. These are just a few of the explosive economic and political events that have continued to unfold in the… Read More

October 20, 2016 @ 6:05 am By Erin Hobey  |  

The European Fintech Alliance, established in Berlin early this summer, seeks to represent the interests of startups in the political arena and to build bridges between policymakers and regulators at European level.  The platform touts a non-national, but EU-wide approach, for FinTechs only. Initiated by political… Read More

September 16, 2016 @ 1:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

File this one under recently discovered, but the European Commission published a report earlier this year that pretty much crushed any hope for a more synchronized approach for debt and equity crowdfunding across Europe. As highlighted in the editorial by Alessandro Lerro earlier this week,… Read More

September 14, 2016 @ 4:15 pm By Alessandro M. Lerro  |  

At Crowddialogue Europe in Graz, Austria last week, a panel presentation, moderated by Ronald Kleverlaan, inquired about the status of the European legislation on crowd-investing. Looking back to 2014, with the EU Commission’s Communication “Unleashing the Potential of Crowdfunding”, soon followed by the 2015 Communication “Action Plan… Read More

September 3, 2016 @ 4:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis replaced Jonathan Hill of the UK at the Commission following the Brexit decision. He recently sat down with CNBC for an interesting interview where he shared some insight into his perspective on the Capital Markets Union (CMU) in light of the UK EU… Read More

August 25, 2016 @ 1:01 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, UK-based peer-to-peer lender, Lending Works, took to its blog to reveal the status of UK’s economy since voters made the Brexit decision, to depart from the European Union (EU),  just two months ago (June 23rd). The lender stated: “Depending which newspaper you’re inclined to… Read More

July 26, 2016 @ 12:34 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

The European Commission has launched a call for tenders for a service contract to conduct a study on the fintech sector with a total price that cannot exceed 350,000 Euros, according to a release. The objective of the contract is to better understand the fintech sector… Read More