Italy is certainly not the leading country in the world for the creation of start-ups, but it tries to improve the situation by giving itself (and in this it really will be the first) coded rules for «crowdfunding», the collection of capital to finance innovative new companies through online portals.
In Europe, the most significant experiences have developed in five countries, Great Britain (44 platforms), The Netherlands (29), France (28), Germany (20), and Spain (18), but the phenomenon is represented in each country by at least one platform. In 2011 the 191 platforms in the U.S. totaled 857 million dollars, while the 181 European platforms collected 458 million euros (584 million dollars).
Consob’s audition stage for examining the opinions and judgments of experts in the field ended on February 8 and now the monitoring body is preparing the draft regulations, expected at the end of the month. By a date in March (formally the term is March 19, but it may be postponed by a few weeks) the final text will be ready. The first definite point is that there will not be any need for an information prospectus to collect up to 5 million euros. The passage of a specific set of rules was a strong request of the Minister for Economic Development, Corrado Passera who, with the Growth Decree, has tried to facilitate investment in innovative start-ups, also by non professional investors, for which Consob must ensure protection. It isn’t an easy job, and a similar initiative sponsored by President Obama ran aground on the tables of the SEC, the American version of Consob, and has not been heard of since.