Press  Release    

Entry  into  force  of  the  new  French  crowdfunding  decree    

Anaxago  obtains  regulatory  approval  and  will  be  the  first  equity  crowdfunding  platform  awarded  with  the  new  statute:  CIP  (Counsellor  in  Investment  Participatory)  

 On  the  eve  of  the  first  day  of  the  decree  application,  regulators  award  one  crowdfunding  platform  with  the  new  statute.      The  requirements  of  the  statute  application  form:  

• Hand   in   a   formal   application   to   the   AMF   (French   High   Authority   of   Financial  Markets)  

• The  application  will  need  to  include  the  following  items:  o Internal  Process  of  the  crowdfunding  platform  o Internal  Process  against  money  laundering  o Internal  Process  of  management  of  conflicts  of  interests  o Internal  Process  of  the  advisory  mission  

 What  does  it  actually  change  in  the  equity  crowdfunding  market?    Obtaining   the   status   of   CIP   is   the   end   of   a   Damocles   sword   hanging   over   all  crowdfunding   platforms   as   well   as   companies   using   crowdfunding   to   raise   funds   in  France.    Two  main  risks  were  at  stake:  

• Regarding  businesses:  a  risk  to  fall  into  the  conditions  of  public  offerings,  meaning  that  you  need  to  edit  a  formal  -­‐and  expensive-­‐  prospectus  to  raise  funds.    

o Until  then  the  only  solution  to  avoid  this  situation  was  to  raise  less  than  100  000€  in  crowdfunding  

o Or  to  inform  less  than  150  people  that  you  were  raising  funds.    • Regarding  crowdfunding  platforms:  a  risk  to  be  caught  doing  non-­‐guaranteed  

placement.  This  if  the  platform  customer  is  the  company  raising  funds  and  not  the  investor.  The  sanction  in  this  case  would  be  5  years  of  prison,  along  with  a  fine  of  375  000€.    

Both  risks  are  not  solved  thanks  to  the  new  status  of  CIP:  • A  new  exception  to  the  rule  of  public  offering  has  been  created:    

o From  now  on,  anyone  raising  funds  from  an  equity  crowdfunding  platform  will  be  allowed  to  raise  up  to  1  000  000  euros  from  an  infinite  amount  of  people.  This  exception  was  drafted  from  a  European  Directive  enabling  union  members  to  decide  individually  for  which  amount  raised  (up  to  5M€)  they  will  exempt  companies  to  draft  a  prospectus.  This  1M€  level  chosen  by  the  French  government  is  subject  to  augmentation  following  the  progress  of  the  crowdfunding  market.      

• Regarding  the  non-­‐guaranteed  placement:  the  platform  customers  are  the  investors.      

Practical  Changes    

• For  investors:  it  provides  more  transparency  and  the  possibility  to  be  better  informed  about  each  project.    

• For  crowdfunding  platforms:  the  obligation  to  provide  more  complete  information  supposing  a  bit  more  of  controlling  on  each  project,  hence  stronger  processes.    

• For  businesses:  fewer  risks  in  launching  their  crowdfunding  platform.