Crowd-Sourced Funding Company Setup:

 

CSF Public Company Setup

Are you looking to convert your private company into a company that can legally raise funds from the general public via a crowd funding arrangement? Are you looking to setup a public company that can legally crowd fund for a new venture? If your answer to any of the above questions is a yes then look no further.

Our team can assist you in either converting from a private company to a public company or to setup a newly unlisted crowd funding public company for your new venture.

Once the entity has been setup you only need to list your venture one of the many crowd-funding websites to start raising funds for the new venture.

As accountants we can not only provide the setup of the new venture but as ASIC agents we can add and make changes to the company as and when the registry needs to be amended.

Crowd-funded public company can source funds from a vast number of private equity investors to invest in a particular venture. The venture shall be well defined with the help of a prospectus.

The CSF Act received royal assent on the 28th of March 2017 and came into effect from 29th of September 2017.

The new company being a public company would require a separate application to be exempt from the corporate governance requirements that apply to all other categories of public companies be lodged. As accountants and ASIC agents we are able to organise this aspect of the process for the new company formation.

The RG261: Crowd-Sourced Funding: Guide for Public companies explains the regulatory environment of the CSF companies. The regulatory guide also explains how an offer of shares and acceptance could be carried out. We could assist you in the process of offering equity instruments for your CSF company; however though there would be options where you could organise this aspect through the CSF intermediary instead of us. Please note: Our services are limited to the setup of the CSF company and we our fees and scope should be interpreted as limited to the setup. Administration services would generally be provided by the intermediary.

Once a public company is formed under the new CSF guidelines; shares could be offered to general public; using an intermediary; this would be via an offer document. We can provide the services of preparing the offer document if required but this service could be availed through the intermediary instead of us.

To be eligible the assets and turnover of an existing company would be below $25 million. Eligible companies would not be able to offer shares for more than $5 million in any 12 month period.

New companies or converted public companies would qualify for certain specific reporting, compliance and audit exemptions for an initial period of 5 years.

The investors are protected and the CSF companies have obligations placed on them that are inclusive of but not limited to and apply to any and every CSF offer through any intermediary.

There are obligations and investor protections that apply to CSF offers, together with corporate governance concessions for companies undertaking CSF offers, including but not limited to the below:

  • an investor cap of $10,000 per annum per company for retail investors; meaning that once an investor invests a maximum of $10,000 in the CSF shares there could be no more investment by the same investor in the same CSF for at least another year.
  • the provision of a CSF offer document containing minimum information and a prescribed risk warning. We as accountants could help prepare the offer document containing perceived and implied risks of the investment along with the possible outcomes. This will be prepared from information collated from discussions with you as the CEO of the CSF company.
  • a five-day cooling-off period: This period applies to all investments in the CSF by any investor. An investor could change their mind about the investment and will be entitled to a full refund of monies invested. This service would ideally be provided by the CSF intermediary and not us.

If you may have any other questions pertaining the setup of a crowd sourced Funding company; kindly feel free to contact our office or complete the below form and submit. One of us shall be in touch with you to discuss this opportunity.