Online jackpots were already subject to surveillance by the financial policeman, but indirectly. Following a European harmonization, pots will now have to be registered like crowdfunding platforms.
A legal novelty that will prevent the appearance of fraudulent jackpots? In 2019, the unit for the fight against tax evasion, money laundering and the financing of terrorism, Tracfin, campaigned for the integration of pots into the system for the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Because, as the professional federation Participative Financing France pointed out in 2020 by warning against scams on donation platforms, online fundraising sites are not in the crowdfunding industry.
At the end of 2020, it was the turn of centrist senator Nathalie Goulet to point out this lack in a written question sent to Bercy. Response from the Minister of the Economy: in fact, many pots have already requested the status of intermediary in crowdfunding (IFP), without being obliged to do so. This is for example the case of Leetchi, which already has IFP status. Bercy’s second argument in its response: the pots are under a legal obligation to use a payment service provider (PSP) to collect the funds collected on behalf of third parties. However, PSPs are subject to the control of the banking policeman, the ACPR (1). From then on, the funds passing through these pools are systematically checked when the funds are collectedcut Bercy in this written response published in May 2021. But Bercy then recognized that the forthcoming entry into force of a European regulation could be an opportunity to gauge the relevance of including these online pots in the panel of closely monitored establishments.
Nobanques: the cheapest offers to control your budget
The pots directly controlled by the banking police
The banking policeman publishes at the beginning of September a press release relating to this European regulation, with an additional period for PFIs to comply. And a novelty concerning the supervision of online pots. Public pools will need to register as a crowdfunding intermediary (CFI) in the future. Result: they will be directly subject to the control of the ACPR. In addition to the requirements relating to the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, online pots are now supervised and subject to a certain formalism, except when they are not open to the public, underlines the regulator in its press release.
Online kitty: which ones are really free?
(1) Prudential control and resolution authority.