First crowdfund licences granted

Even though the Australian government failed to pass amendments to the equity crowd source funding (CSF) regime before the end of last year, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has granted seven companies licences to allow them to act as CSF intermediaries under the regime.

The first batch of licences has been issued to Big Start, Billfolda, Birchal Financial Services, Equitise, Global Funding Partners, IQX Investment Services and On-Market Bookbuilds.

“ASIC has been assessing applications as a matter of priority, as suitable intermediaries needed to be licensed before fundraising under the new regime could commence,” said ASIC commissioner John Price.

“Intermediaries have an important gatekeeper role which will be key to building and maintaining investor trust in crowd-sourced fundraising, so we are pleased to have now issued the first tranche of authorisations.”

Eligible public companies will now be able to use the CSF regime to raise capital by offering shares to investors via the online platform operated by one the intermediaries. They will be able to raise up to $5 million in funds through equity crowdfunding, with retail investors able to invest up to $10,000 per issuing company per year.

To read more about the crowdfund licences, please click on the link below…

Source: First crowdfund licences granted – InnovationsAus.com