The protection of the inexperienced investor in crowdlending operations in European and national legislation, following Law 18/2022 of 28 September on the creation and growth of companies

The protection of the inexperienced investor in crowdlending operations in European and national legislation, following Law 18/2022 of 28 September on the creation and growth of companies

Abstract:

After a brief approach to the phenomenon of crowdlending, as an alternative source of
financing to banking –and, therefore, of interest to everyone interested in venture capital–, and to the actors involved in the market for participatory financing services, the purpose of this work is to analyze the protection system for inexperienced investors regulated in the community and national legislation, based on three elements that reinforce confidence in the market and its operators: transparency, information and advertising.
However, the so–called “Private Debt Funds” have been lacking their own regulatory
framework in Spain until the enactment of Act 18/2022 on company foundation and
development, which has amended Act 22/2014 on private equity entities. Such Act 18/2022 has, inter alia, created the concept of Closed– ended Loan Collective Investment Entities (CLCIE), which is not incompatible with other legal concepts that have so far offered a legal coverage to Private Debt Funds.

This article dives into Private Debt Funds and briefly assesses the diverse legal concepts
under which non–bank financing has been traditionally made available to corporates. In
particular, it focuses on the analysis of the new CLCIE and their regulatory framework in Spain.

Keywords: Crowdlending, participatory financing platform, inexperienced investor, protection system, information duties, transparency, advertising.