The company needs a platform authorised under the European Crowdfunding Regulation. The platform must conduct due diligence on the company. The company prepares a key investment information sheet for each offer and is responsible for the information it contains. It must also fulfil the obligations arising from the loans, bonds or shares it offers to investors. The Regulation applies only to offers of up to EUR 5 000 000 over 12 months. A larger offer must be assessed under the prospectus rules.
A company wants to raise money from a larger number of investors for its development or a specific project and is considering a crowdfunding platform through which it would offer them the opportunity to provide a loan or invest in bonds or shares. Lending-based and investment-based crowdfunding for businesses is governed by Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 on European crowdfunding service providers, which applies directly in both Slovakia and Czechia. Under the Regulation, the company acts as the project owner (Article 2(1), letter (h)). The platform needs authorisation, as explained in the question NBS authorisation for a crowdfunding platform, but the company has its own obligations and responsibilities.
Which platform you need and the offer limit
Crowdfunding services may be provided only by a legal person authorised under the Regulation (Article 3(1)). The Regulation does not apply to offers with a total consideration exceeding EUR 5 000 000 calculated over 12 months. This amount includes offers of securities and other admitted instruments and loans raised by the same project owner through the platform, as well as its public offers of securities under specified prospectus exemptions (Article 1(2), letter (c)). An offer of securities through an authorised platform within this limit is exempt from the obligation to publish a prospectus (Article 1(4), letter (k) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129). Larger financing is discussed in the question when do we need a prospectus, and the new prospectus rules in the article the Listing Act and prospectuses from June 2026. A company receiving loan funds through the platform does not need a banking licence (Article 1(3), letter (a)). Loans from investors outside the platform require a separate assessment, as described in the question loans from investors and the deposit-taking monopoly.
What the company must prepare
The platform must conduct the minimum required due diligence on the company. It must obtain evidence, at a minimum, that the company has no criminal record for infringements of commercial, insolvency or financial law, anti-money laundering rules, fraud or breaches of professional responsibility, and that it is not established in a non-cooperative or high-risk country (Article 5(2)).
The company prepares a key investment information sheet for each offer (Article 23(2)). If the platform offers investors individual portfolio management of loans, the platform itself prepares the information sheet at platform level (Article 24(1)). Under Annex I to the Regulation, the sheet includes, in particular:
- the identity of the company, its owners, management and the persons responsible for the information in the sheet,
- its principal activities, a link to its latest financial statements and key financial figures for the last 3 years, where available,
- a description of the project, the target amount and the deadline for raising it,
- the main risks associated with the project, the company and the instrument offered,
- the terms of the offer, security and, for a loan or bond, interest and maturity.
The sheet must be truthful, clear and not misleading and must not exceed 6 pages of A4 paper when printed (Article 23(7)). It must be written in at least one official language of the state that authorised the platform, or in a language accepted by that state’s authorities (Article 23(2)). The platform requires the company to notify it of any changes to the information throughout the offer (Article 23(8)).
What the company is responsible for
The Slovak Securities Act places responsibility for the content of the sheet on the company:
The following quotation is reproduced in its original language:
Za údaje uvedené v dokumente kľúčových investičných informácií […] zodpovedá vlastník projektu […] v rozsahu podľa osobitného predpisu.
The Regulation requires civil liability to apply at least where the information is misleading or inaccurate, or where the sheet omits key information needed for an investor’s decision (Article 23(10)). The persons responsible must be identified in the sheet, together with a declaration that, to the best of their knowledge, the information is accurate (Article 23(9)). If the platform identifies an error in the sheet that could materially affect the return on the investment and the company does not correct it promptly, the platform will suspend the offer. If the sheet is not corrected within 30 calendar days, the offer will be cancelled (Article 23(12)).
The company must also fulfil its underlying obligations to investors. For a loan, this is an unconditional obligation to repay the amount borrowed with interest in accordance with the repayment schedule (Article 2(1), letter (b)); for bonds, these are the obligations under the terms and conditions of issue.
The same Regulation applies in Czechia, and the project owner must ensure that the information in the sheet is neither misleading nor inaccurate and that no key information for investors is omitted (Section 90i of Act No. 256/2004 Sb.).
We will assess whether your offer, through a platform or otherwise, can proceed without a prospectus through our public offer assessment service. This also includes reviewing investor-facing documents, including the key investment information sheet. If you decide to bring in an investor directly instead of using a platform, we will prepare the documentation through our bringing in an investor service.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 3 October 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.
