September 16, 2022
Oneplanetcrowd, our platform for sustainable financing, is having a celebratory week. Earlier, it passed the magical 100 million mark. Yesterday, the platform became the third in Europe to receive the new European Crowdfunding Service Provider license (ECSP) from the AFM. This clears the way to offer sustainable financing propositions to private investors throughout Europe.
With the ECSP, crowdfunding platforms can provide services across the entire EU internal market under the same rules. This will increase the pool of potential investors for renewable energy projects, SMEs, and scale-ups, and ensure that investors have a wider choice of projects and better protection.
Fairer competition
Crowdfunding platforms active in more than one EU country will have to comply with a single set of basic rules – the new regulation – instead of different rules in each country. Before the introduction of European legislation, crowdfunding platforms in Europe had to deal with a patchwork of national consumer protection laws and regulations. ‘Now there is one framework for all EU countries and crowdfunding platforms must meet the same requirements,’ says Maarten de Jong, Director of Oneplanetcrowd. ‘That means fairer competition between platforms, better supervision from the AFM, more clarity for the investor, and more opportunities for the entrepreneur seeking financing.’
More accessible investing
The new license is therefore good news for both entrepreneurs and investors. Investors who invest via a platform with the ECSP license can count on the platform meeting strict requirements regarding internal processes, systems, IT security, payment processes, and the quality and integrity of directors. In addition, the new license makes more possible regarding the transferability of bonds. Thanks to this improved liquidity, it becomes more accessible to invest directly in unlisted companies or sustainable energy projects with a longer term.
European ambitions
The road to Europe is open thanks to obtaining the new license. Oneplanetcrowd therefore has the ambition to offer sustainable financing propositions from all over Europe to all of Europe. De Jong intends to tackle this step-by-step, country by country, starting in the Benelux. ‘The ECSP gives us the status of a professional investment platform more than ever. And there is still much to achieve in Europe in the field of sustainable project financing!’
