Last updated: 26 June 2019
Applicants must submit the following information and supporting documents electronically to supervision@africancrowd.org. Applicants must send proof of payment to the same address for the processing fee of USD100. Applicants may apply for a waiver of this fee if they believe their proposed activity justifies it. ACfA may request further information from applicants, and reserves the right to reject applicants at its discretion. Please note that only applications that are considered complete will be processed.
Confidentiality Clause:
ACfA treats the information provided to it by applicants with the strictest level of confidentiality. An applicant’s Confidential Information includes, but is not limited to, its:
- business, members, customers, clients, third party service providers, partners, mandates, suppliers, business plans, financial documents, strategic documents, intentions, or market opportunities and
- ideas, operations, processes, product information, know-how, brand, intellectual property, designs, trade secrets or software and
- legal, regulatory and compliance documents, licences and applications.
Applicants have the right to know who has received their Confidential Information and have the right to request ACfA to delete and destroy all information pertaining to it at any given time. In the case where there are penal procedures against an applicant, ACfA may be required by law to disclose the applicant’s Confidential Information.
- Corporate identity of the applicant:
a. Company name
b. Company registration number
c. Company physical address
d. Company website URL and other social media links
e. Shareholders (name, surname, physical address, copy of ID/passport)
f. Organogram of governance structures (Board, Advisory Committee…), if any - Individual identity of the applicant:
a. Name, surname, physical address, copy of ID/passport and Curriculum Vitae of the full-time director(s) or full-time employed individual(s) whose qualifications make the applicant eligible to be a Crowdfunding Intermediary
b. Diploma(s), degree(s) or recognised industry certifications in the relevant fields: Category 1: banking, finance, economics, business management, accounting, actuarial science, mathematics
Category 2: any undergraduate degree, or industry qualification equivalent
c. Name, surname and Bios/LinkedIn profiles of key full-time team members - Description of the applicant’s proposed crowdfunding activity:
a. Type of transaction (debt, equity…), profile of investors and project sponsors
b. Indicative amounts to be raised per project sponsor
c. Category of ACfA Label sought
d. Detailed description of the chosen Investment model (use of a crowdinvestment vehicle, or direct investment)
• In the case of a crowdinvestment vehicle, provide details on the proposed legal form, domicile, ownership and governance
e. Countries in which the applicant’s services will be marketed, both to project sponsors and crowdinvestors. - Detailed description of the applicant’s relationship with the project sponsor and services provided to the project sponsor:
a. sourcing of project sponsors and selection criteria,
b. average duration of the investment readiness process
c. nature of the investment readiness services and due diligence process (corporate finance advisory, specialised technical assistance, market analysis, financial valuation, capitalisation table management, legal…) - Proposed list of services provided by the applicant and by third parties (tick the relevant boxes in the table below):
| Servis type | Provided by the applicant | Provided by a third party service provider |
|---|---|---|
| Registration and account administration of crowdinvestors | ☐ | ☐ |
| Project sponsor and crowdinvestor KYC compliance | ☐ | ☐ |
| Marketing and communication about crowdfunding operations | ☐ | ☐ |
| Payment services (digital payments, mobile wallets and e-wallets…) | ☐ | ☐ |
| Transaction facilitation, from reception and transmission of orders to settlement | ☐ | ☐ |
| Facilitation of post-transaction reporting, shareholder communication and distribution of proceeds | ☐ | ☐ |
| Company secretarial and other legal services | ☐ | ☐ |
Distributed Ledger Technology and Smart Contracts (blockchain-based crowdfunding) | ☐ | ☐ |
| Other related services: educational trainings, consulting, tax support and foreign exchange | ☐ | ☐ |
- Provide a step-by-step description of the journey of a crowdinvestor who seeks to invest in a crowdfunding operation that has been set up by the applicant. Please mention the categorisation of crowdinvestors, risk awareness and suitability tests, KYC, the steps that occur with third party service providers and the flow of funds (provide screenshots and URLs where possible).
- Description of compensation structures (fees, success commissions, fees of third parties etc) and how this information is provided to crowdinvestors. If there is a crowdinvestment vehicle, please include the fee structures of this too.
- Description of the applicant’s Risk Management framework:
a. Risks and Risk Mitigants relating to the sustainability of the applicant’s business model, and that of its third party service providers
b. Risks and Risk Mitigants relating to Project Sponsors
c. Risks and Risk Mitigants relating to Crowdinvestors
d. Risks and Risk Mitigants relating to Crowdfunding Operations
e. Other identified Risks and Risk Mitigants - Description of the applicant’s Complaints Handling process.
- Applicant’s Policy and/or Declaration of Conflicts of Interest, including those arising from the use of third party service providers, crowdinvestment vehicles.
- Description of the applicant’s Privacy and Data Protection Policies. Please include details on how the confidential information of project sponsors and crowdinvestors will be stored.
- Please describe the applicant’s Contingency Plan in case of closure of its activity, or those of its third party service providers.
- If available, please provide a copy of the applicant’s financial model, 5-year projections and previous annual financial statements.
- If available, please provide a copy of the proposed Terms and Conditions of the use of the applicant’s services, and those of the third party service providers if applicable.
