Following the advisory letter from the AFM to the Dutch legislator, the Ministry of Finance has issued a consultation for the creation of a regulatory framework for crowdlending platforms. Currently, crowdlending platforms operate on the basis of a dispensation from the prohibition to mediate in attracting repayable funds by a company from the public. The dispensation holder – i.e. the crowdlending platform – is also subjected to various provisions for the business operation that have been set by the AFM. FG Lawyers advocates for the formalization of the current dispensation regime in a legal license obligation for crowdlending platforms. Among other things, this results in crowdlending being included and defined in the Wft (Dutch Financial Supervision Act) and ensures that – other – laws and regulations like the Wwft (Dutch Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act), privacy and consumer protection laws also apply to crowdlending. FG Lawyers emphasizes that the European developments should be monitored and that as much alignment as possible is sought with a (future) European legislative framework. You can find our response here.