If a platform facilitates loans to business projects or places securities they issue, it provides crowdfunding services under Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 (ECSPR) and needs authorisation, granted in Slovakia by the National Bank of Slovakia. The Regulation covers offers with consideration up to EUR 5,000,000 per project owner over 12 months. Donation and reward crowdfunding fall outside it, while household lending has its own licensing regime. The NBS assesses, in particular, management, the business model, payment flows and prudential safeguards.
Crowdfunding is not a grey area. Lending and investment platforms throughout the Union are subject to Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 on European crowdfunding service providers for business (ECSPR). Whether authorisation is required depends on exactly what the platform does between investors and projects, rather than the project’s name.
Which models require authorisation
The Regulation covers two models. In lending crowdfunding, the platform facilitates loans to business projects. In investment crowdfunding, it places transferable securities and other admitted instruments issued by project owners, and receives and transmits investors’ orders. Both cover only business project financing and offers with consideration up to EUR 5,000,000 per project owner over 12 months. Larger issues fall under the prospectus regime, discussed in when a prospectus is required.
Donation and reward crowdfunding remain outside the Regulation: promising a T-shirt or finished product in return for a contribution is not a financial service. Household lending is also outside its scope. A P2P platform used by consumers to borrow falls towards the regime under Act No. 129/2010 Coll. on Consumer Credit, discussed in NBS authorisation for lending.
The NBS grants authorisation: what it assesses
A crowdfunding service provider requires authorisation under Article 12 ECSPR. In Slovakia, the National Bank of Slovakia grants it and supervises providers:
As part of financial market supervision, the National Bank of Slovakia (a) supervises supervised financial market entities, namely banks, […] crowdfunding service providers, […]
— Section 1(3) of Act No. 747/2004 Coll. (unofficial English translation)
The NBS answers on the Crowdfunding Regulation from November 2024 make clear what the application must substantiate. Proposed managers must demonstrate good repute through court certificates confirming the absence of proceedings and a certificate from the disqualification register, and professional competence through CVs and educational credentials. Payment services within the model may be performed only by an entity licensed under payment regulation, whether the provider itself or a third party. The provider must continuously hold prudential safeguards of at least EUR 25,000 or one quarter of the previous year’s fixed overheads, whichever is higher.
Slovak specifics also matter. The NBS does not consider interests in an s. r. o. to be admitted instruments for crowdfunding purposes. Slovak projects are therefore financed on platforms through shares, bonds or loans, rather than transfers of those business interests. For offers in Slovakia, the NBS accepts the key investment information sheet prepared by the project owner for each offer in Slovak. Where an offer uses a special purpose vehicle (SPV), only one illiquid or indivisible asset may be offered through it (Article 3(6) ECSPR).
Without authorisation, the model can quickly become prohibited activity
Collecting investors’ money without authorisation entails more than penalties for unauthorised financial market activity. A model in which investors’ returns depend on the value or returns of acquired assets has the characteristics of unauthorised collective investment under Act No. 203/2011 Coll. Licensed crowdfunding is an express exception to that prohibition. We discuss the boundary in when raising money constitutes unauthorised collective investment. Anyone accepting repayable money from the public for their own account also encounters the banks’ deposit-taking monopoly: see loans from investors.
How we can help
Our collective investment review assesses each feature of the platform model: what falls under the ECSPR, what constitutes collective investment and what is unregulated. We assess individual offers through our public offer assessment and structure financing for the platform and projects through our investor entry service.
Tell us how the platform is intended to work. Whether it involves loans, securities or rewards determines everything else.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 5 September 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.
