Crowdfunding Platforms, an Innovative Way of Providing Crowdfunding Services in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. EU Legislative Implications. Applicability in Romania
Authors: Vâlcu Elise Nicoleta 
Published: September 2024

Equity crowdfunding is a technologically adapted alternative form of financing to bank financing, and also a type of intermediation in which a crowdfunding service provider, without taking risks itself, manages a digital platform, open to the general public, to connect or facilitate the connection of potential investors or lenders with the business community seeking finance. Through crowdfunding, investors can finance projects published on the crowdfunding platform either by providing loans (crowdlending) or by purchasing securities/instruments admitted for crowdfunding purposes issued by project developers (crowd-equity). At European Union level, the provision of equity crowdfunding services is stated by Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 October 2020 on European providers of equity crowdfunding services to business and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 and Directive (EU) 2019/1937 (“Regulation (EU) 1503/2020”) and by delegated regulations of the European Commission which approved the regulatory technical standards drawn up by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA). In Romania, in order to properly implement the EU legislative framework, Law no 244 of 20 April 2022 on measures implementing the Regulation (EU) 1503/2020. The present research aims at highlighting a number of issues for reflection, among which we mention by way of example: (i) the interpretation of the term “commercial activity or activities” in the context of the Regulation (EU) 1503/2020; (ii) the typologies of crowdfunding providers, their role in the crowdfunding mechanism, but also to what extent are they entitled to accept only sophisticated investors? doctrinal implications; (iii) minimum prudential requirements laid down by the EU legislator in Regulation (EU) 1503/2020 to the effect that a crowdfunding provider is required to have prudential safeguards in place at all times; (iv) to what extent can a project owner market their crowdfunding projects? (v) the particular nature of the activity of providers of equity financing services authorised in a Member State of the European Union who may provide equity financing services in a Member State other than the Member State whose competent authority granted the authorisation, on the basis of a simplified procedure (license passporting) involving notification to the competent authority of the Member State which granted the authorisation of the intention to provide equity financing services in other Member States of the European Union, etc. In summary of the above, we believe that, as an expression of the age of artificial intelligence, the crowdfunding market, both at EU level and in the particular case of Romania, shows an upward trend, characterised by the fact that both investors and project developers are increasingly interested in crowdfunding services and in the way crowdfunding platforms operate. Keywords: Suppliers; Crowdfunding services; Online platforms; Digitisation