How will access to crowdlanding change?
The Russian crowdfunding market can get a new impetus for development. According to the bill submitted to the State Duma, it is proposed to increase the annual investment limit for individuals from 600 thousand to 1 million rubles. However, the segment remains highly risk, and certain provisions of the bill require further study, especially in terms of regulation and protection of retail investors.
Amendments to the law “On attracting investments using investment platforms …”, introduced on March 28 to the State Duma, significantly expand the capabilities of both operators of these sites and investors. First of all, it is proposed to increase the annual investment limit for individuals from 600 thousand to 1 million rubles. And such a limit can be used on each platform. Moreover, this amount does not include funds received by the investor under completed agreements.
The bill introduces a mechanism for protecting the interests of investors. In particular, he limits the difference between the minimum and maximum amounts indicated in the investment sentence, no more than 25%. In addition, operators of investment platforms (OIP) lose the right to unilateral refusal of contracts if the investor already has active investments on the platform. At the same time, persons attracting investments will be required to provide the operator with the “reliable information about themselves and their investment proposals” for its subsequent disclosure.
The document also gives the Bank of Russia by the authority to regulate the disclosure of information and establish requirements for OIP capital. At the same time, operators will be able to attract investments on their own platform, but they will be forbidden to simultaneously act as an investor and in the role of a borrower in order to avoid a conflict of interest.
According to the Central Bank on March 27, 2025, 99 organizations were in the register of investment platform operators. The volume of funds raised through investment platforms in 2024 increased more than doubled, reaching 54.2 billion rubles, of whichOThe luster part came to crowdlanding (attracting/placing loans) – 41.6 billion rubles. At the beginning of 2025, nearly 159 thousand investors-individuals were registered on the platforms (growth per year by 32%). Active investors in the fourth quarter of 2024 were 42.8 thousand people, 28% lower than a year earlier.
According to the participants in the investment market, the bill creates new opportunities for the development of investment platform operators and will attract more investments. And among the main factors – an increase in the maximum annual investment limit for individuals to 1 million rubles. With the possibility of reinvesting. In addition, as the partner of the Kama Flow investment company Kirill Tishin notes, the right of operators to directly act as investors or attract investments through their own platforms “can significantly increase their attractiveness for investors, especially due to the participation of anchor players”. The development partner Brainbox Vice (BranBox.VC investment platform) Sergei Egorov also notes that the law leads to an increase in the protection of investors with detailed revelation of issuers, as well as with possible conflicts of interests. In particular, according to him, the platforms will have the possibility of “more effective control over the conclusion of investment agreements”, which begin to operate “immediately after writing off funds from the nominal account of the platform”. According to the investment trailer of the Garda Capital investment, Alexander Bakhtin, the requirements to increase the transparency of the platforms, the greater disclosure of information from borrowers and the greater protection of investors are an attempt to “bring crowudland into more compliance with traditional instruments like bonds”. According to Pavel Samiev, general director of the Businessdr agency, these initiatives are important from the point of view of reducing the risks of investors, « so that they are sure that the platform infrastructure does not add risks to the credit risk that the borrower carries. »
However, experts indicate the need for a thorough study of a number of the provisions of the bill. In particular, according to Julia Savina, the finamal manager of the “finam”, the issue of a conflict of interests of interests will need to “work more thoroughly”. In addition, as Alexander Bakhtin notes, the document does not have clear frames in terms of tightening regulation, « it is simply proposed such an option at the discretion of the regulator. » In addition, according to Cyril Silence, the main problem, the main problem that the project does not offer, is “Protection of retail investors from the risks of investing in venture startups, taking into account the likely high assessments and the potential absence of protective mechanisms in transactions” (see “Kommersant” of March 17). In his opinion, the presence in the investment round, collected through the platforms, professional investors « can be a criterion for additional approval from the regulator. »
