The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) issued a supervisory reminder that some crowdfunding service providers’ (CSPs) bulletin board services are more extensive than the law allows, creating a risk that firms provide services without the required authorisation and corresponding level of investor protection. CSPs may offer a bulletin board where clients advertise buying and selling intentions for loans, securities or instruments originally offered on the provider’s crowdfunding platform, but clients must then contact each other outside the CSP’s systems to discuss any transaction. The AFM flagged as prohibited: features such as buy and sell buttons that result in an agreement being concluded directly or with the CSP’s intermediation; bulletin boards that function as an internal matching system executing client orders on a multilateral basis (Article 25(2) of the European Crowdfunding Service Providers Regulation); and any multilateral internal matching in financial instruments without a licence to operate a trading venue (regulated market, multilateral trading facility or organised trading facility). The notice also points to European Securities and Markets Authority guidance specifying that a bulletin board should only collect and publish intentions, should not allow communication or negotiation (including notifications of potential matches), and should not enable execution or the bringing together of buying and selling interests. The AFM indicated it will closely monitor that CSPs remain within these boundaries.

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