Ronald Kleverlaan, Director of the European Centre of Alternative Finance at Utrecht University in Netherlands, interviewed by thisisOliver* last November about the current challenges and the future of the industry, shared with Crowdfund Insider, a leading media title in the sector, his views on the alternative finance growth in Europe.
Clearly in Europe (Brexit aside) the UK has led sector growth. A combination of a culture of entrepreneurship and risk taking has combined with a supportive government and a regulatory body tasked with a mission of fostering competition – perhaps to the frustration of traditional financial firms. The rise of internet finance in the UK has engendered few occurrences of fraud to date. Growth has been sustained.
The other way around,
Italy (…) has stumbled out of the gate. Something the country is attempting to rectify with recent rule changes specifically targeting equity crowdfunding. But any policy maker interested in promoting an innovation based economy and who is supportive of small business should seek to study the experiences of other countries. There are some prominent regulators that appear reticent to benefit from the knowledge of others.
What’s the state of health of alternative finance in the rest of the world? Find out more here.
Oliver* 
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