Existing Legal Issues for Crowdfunding Regulation in European Union Member States
Assoc. Prof. Linas Sadzius, Tomas Sadzius

Abstract
The start of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the post-crisis period jumpstarted the search for new, alternative ways to fund various innovations and projects.America’s top banks have already recognized crowdfundingas a legitimate financing alternative. Although investment-based crowdfunding internet platforms in the EU have been around for over a decade, the key legal acts regulating the whole process came into effect only recently.Up until the middle of 2017, national crowdfunding-specific laws were passed in only 11 European Union Member States.In this article crowdfunding legal regulation is analyzed and evaluated in some European Union Member States.The aim of the study was to analyze the problems associated with crowdfunding regulation seeking to optimally satisfy the interest of all three parties: investors, project owners, and crowdfunding platform operators.The paper examines the concept of crowdfunding, its origin, and different types as well as advantages and disadvantages of this alternative financing method compared to other methods of funding projects.

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