ASIC’s equity crowd funding
On Friday, ASIC released its regulatory guide on equity crowd-sourced funding (CSF) for public companies, ahead of the new laws coming in on 29 September 2017, to assist companies seeking to raise funds through equity CSF to understand and comply with their obligations when using the new regime.
This was accompanied by a new regulatory guide for intermediaries involved in the operation of equity CSF platforms, including the process for licensing of such intermediaries, who have a unique ‘gatekeeper’ obligation for operating platforms for equity CSF offers.
See the following links for full copies of the ASIC Regulatory Guides:
- Regulatory Guide 261 – Crowd-sourced funding: Guide for public companies
- Regulatory Guide 262 – Crowd-sourced funding: Guide for intermediaries
The new guidance is an essential read for any person looking to embark on an equity CSF campaign, including the template CSF offer document to be used for such a process.
Further information on crowd funding can be found on ASIC’s website here, including information on applications:
- to register new public companies or convert existing proprietary companies to public companies, to be eligible to raise funds using CSF and to access the corporate governance concessions, and
- by intermediaries for an AFS licence with an authorisation to provide CSF services.
For a reminder on the new laws coming in at the end of the month, see our recent blog on three essential things to know on the new CSF regime.
This publication covers legal and technical issues in a general way. It is not designed to express opinions on specific cases. It is intended for information purposes only and should not be regarded as legal advice. Further advice should be obtained before taking action on any issue dealt with in this publication.
