Equity crowdfunding - Framtidens finansieringsform eller risktagande i blindo? - En utredning av crowdfundings förhållande till gällande rätt och behovet av särskild reglering
(2016) LAGF03 20162Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- Crowdfunding is a relatively new form of financing that is growing fast. The total international revenue is expected to reach 34 million dollars the year 2016. Despite this crowdfundings conformity with current legislation has not yet been tried in court of law. The form of crowdfunding this essay is focused on is equity crowdfunding, which is a variation where investors in exchange of investment receive a share of the company. Usually it is private companies which uses this form of financing, which raises the question of its conformity with current legislation. Company law both dictates a prohibition against spreading shares in private companies, and against these shares being used in organised trade. The essays first part sets out to... (More)
- Crowdfunding is a relatively new form of financing that is growing fast. The total international revenue is expected to reach 34 million dollars the year 2016. Despite this crowdfundings conformity with current legislation has not yet been tried in court of law. The form of crowdfunding this essay is focused on is equity crowdfunding, which is a variation where investors in exchange of investment receive a share of the company. Usually it is private companies which uses this form of financing, which raises the question of its conformity with current legislation. Company law both dictates a prohibition against spreading shares in private companies, and against these shares being used in organised trade. The essays first part sets out to analyse crowdfundings conformity to these regulations.
In my opinion, it is not possible to build a legal model without losing the potential of crowdfunding. The reason is that the principle behind crowdfunding is that the companies shares are shared widely. Through a large number of investors investing a lesser sum of money, companies with high risk can satisfy it’s financial needs. The principle is in conflict with the motives behind the prohibition, which is preventing wider spread of shares in private company. Nor can any of the exceptions be applicable without crowdfunding becoming ineffective. Since the regulations are in many parts not clear, and the issue has not been tried, no sure answer can be given.
The unsure legal status hinders growth of crowdfunding and is an unwanted consequence. In the second part of the essay the positive consequences of crowdfunding are revealed. This is a reason the unsure legal status of this form of financing must be made clear. In accordance with the analysis based on law and economics the legal status of crowdfunding must not only be made clear, but specific regulations be implemented, to secure protection for investors and enabling crowdfunding to reach it’s fullest potential. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Crowdfunding är en relativt ny finansieringsform som växer snabbt. Den totala internationella omsättning år 2016 förväntas uppgå till 34 miljarder dollar. Trots det har finansieringsformens förenlighet med gällande rätt ännu inte prövats. Den variant som uppsatsen fokuserar på är equity crowdfunding, vilken är en variant där investeraren i utbyte mot satsat kapital får en andel i det kapitalsökande bolaget. Vanligtvis är det privata aktiebolag som använder sig av finansieringsformen vilket väcker frågan om dess förenlighet till gällande rätt. Bolagsrätten föreskriver dels ett förbud mot spridning av aktier i privata aktiebolag men också ett förbud mot att sådana aktier blir föremål för organiserad handel. I uppsatsen första del analyseras... (More)
- Crowdfunding är en relativt ny finansieringsform som växer snabbt. Den totala internationella omsättning år 2016 förväntas uppgå till 34 miljarder dollar. Trots det har finansieringsformens förenlighet med gällande rätt ännu inte prövats. Den variant som uppsatsen fokuserar på är equity crowdfunding, vilken är en variant där investeraren i utbyte mot satsat kapital får en andel i det kapitalsökande bolaget. Vanligtvis är det privata aktiebolag som använder sig av finansieringsformen vilket väcker frågan om dess förenlighet till gällande rätt. Bolagsrätten föreskriver dels ett förbud mot spridning av aktier i privata aktiebolag men också ett förbud mot att sådana aktier blir föremål för organiserad handel. I uppsatsen första del analyseras equity crowdfundings förhållande till dessa förbud.
I min mening går det inte att bygga en laglig modell utan att förlora finansieringsformens potential. Orsaken är att principen bakom crowdfunding är att bolagets aktier får stor spridning. Genom att många investerare investerar en mindre summa kan företag med hög risk få sitt kapitalbehov tillfredsställt. Principen står i strid med förbudens syften, att hindra större spridning av aktier i privata aktiebolag. Inte heller något av undantagen borde vara tillämpliga utan att finansieringsformen blir ineffektiv. Bestämmelserna är dock i många delar inte tydliga och då frågan aldrig prövats rättsligt kan inget säkert svar ges.
Det oklara rättsläget hämmar tillväxten av finansieringsformen vilket inte är önskvärt ur ett samhällsperspektiv. I uppsatsen andra del visas att equity crowdfunding kan ha stora positiva effekter på samhällsutvecklingen. Av den anledningen finns det ett behov av att tydliggöra rättsläget. I enlighet med den rättsekonomiska analys som förs i uppsatsen andra del borde även särskilda regler på området införas. Detta för att säkerställa att investeraskyddet upprätthålls och för att crowdfundingmarknaden ska nå sin största möjliga potential. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8897176
- author
- Loewenstein, Adam LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20162
- year
- 2016
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Associationsrätt, Rättsekonomi
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 8897176
- date added to LUP
- 2017-02-13 08:25:18
- date last changed
- 2017-02-13 08:25:18
@misc{8897176,
abstract = {{Crowdfunding is a relatively new form of financing that is growing fast. The total international revenue is expected to reach 34 million dollars the year 2016. Despite this crowdfundings conformity with current legislation has not yet been tried in court of law. The form of crowdfunding this essay is focused on is equity crowdfunding, which is a variation where investors in exchange of investment receive a share of the company. Usually it is private companies which uses this form of financing, which raises the question of its conformity with current legislation. Company law both dictates a prohibition against spreading shares in private companies, and against these shares being used in organised trade. The essays first part sets out to analyse crowdfundings conformity to these regulations.
In my opinion, it is not possible to build a legal model without losing the potential of crowdfunding. The reason is that the principle behind crowdfunding is that the companies shares are shared widely. Through a large number of investors investing a lesser sum of money, companies with high risk can satisfy it’s financial needs. The principle is in conflict with the motives behind the prohibition, which is preventing wider spread of shares in private company. Nor can any of the exceptions be applicable without crowdfunding becoming ineffective. Since the regulations are in many parts not clear, and the issue has not been tried, no sure answer can be given.
The unsure legal status hinders growth of crowdfunding and is an unwanted consequence. In the second part of the essay the positive consequences of crowdfunding are revealed. This is a reason the unsure legal status of this form of financing must be made clear. In accordance with the analysis based on law and economics the legal status of crowdfunding must not only be made clear, but specific regulations be implemented, to secure protection for investors and enabling crowdfunding to reach it’s fullest potential.}},
author = {{Loewenstein, Adam}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Equity crowdfunding - Framtidens finansieringsform eller risktagande i blindo? - En utredning av crowdfundings förhållande till gällande rätt och behovet av särskild reglering}},
year = {{2016}},
}