New Crowdfunding regulatory regime

In the Markets Update issued on 29 April 2021, we indicated that the Central Bank, following a public consultation process, would be introducing additional crowdfunding marketing requirements through an Addendum to the Consumer Protection Code 2012.  The Central Bank has now published those requirements, which are effective from 13 January 2022.  A number of provisions of the Consumer Protection Code 2012 will now apply to advertising by crowdfunding service providers in Ireland.  Amongst other requirements, any advertisement must be fair and clear and must not mislead or seek to influence consumers unduly in their investment decisions.

Crowdfunding service providers must display a prominent warning message on all advertisements that investment in crowdfunding projects entails risks, including the risk of partial or entire loss of the money invested and that any investment is not covered by a deposit guarantee scheme or by an investor compensation scheme. 

More details on the new crowdfunding regime including application requirements can be found on the Central Bank website.

Feedback to Consultation Paper (CP141), together with all responses received can also be found on our website.

The Central Bank has also published a number of Q&As in respect of the Crowdfunding Regulation, which may be updated from time to time.