Brussels, 12 December 2014 - This second edition of our Review of Crowdfunding Regulation published at the end of 2014 marks yet another milestone in the work of the European Crowdfunding Network, its members and its supporters. The paper covers the legal frameworks in 30 countries across Europe, the USA, Canada and Israel. Details of how crowdfunding of all types is treated under national regulation across Europe and beyond can be found in this publication.

Review of Crowdfunding Regulation 2014, Brussels, December 2014 (PDF, 7MB)

We are still far from a single European market for crowdfunding, maybe even further from it than last year due to what can only be described as uncoordinated regulatory actions on national levels. Nevertheless, we are proud to be able to work with our members and stakeholders in establishing guidelines of best practices, but need to be realistic about the effect of such guidelines in a highly fragmented Europe. We, therefore, ask policymakers and regulators, both on the national and European level, and especially the new President of the European Commission and his team and his Commissioners to engage in a dedicated discourse.

We need to work on the framework and conditions for success that will ultimately help our entrepreneurs, innovators and our private investors to build a growing economy. The creation of a pan-European capital market will contribute to a better allocation of private funds and, as a consequence, to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises which in turn will again lead to increased job creation. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the European economy and they are the main source for employment and value creation across the continent. With this paper we can only give a small insight in the complexities of European legislation keeping back private capital allocation into entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation.

We would like to thank all the contributors of this paper for their impressive and groundbreaking work.