Cross-border crowdfunding transactions
Scientific direction: prof.ssa Francesca Villata
Language: English
Duration: 20 hours
Enrolment: self-paced, unlimited subscription
Description: This course addresses the relevant legal framework for resolving conflicts of law and jurisdiction issues arising from crowdfunding cross-border transactions, as crowdfunding represents an alternative financing opportunity of growing importance within the European and Italian market. Notably, the number of cross-border transactions delivered through crowdfunding platforms are expected to drastically increase in the near future among EU market players, due to the most recent EU legislative initiatives. Hence, to boost the cross-border provision of crowdfunding services among the EU market players, the EU institutions adopted Regulation (EU) 2020/1503, which Italy implemented through Legislative Decree 10 March 2023 No 30, in force from 8 April 2023.
The course aims to equip students with the necessary skills to address the main challenges posed by crowdfunding cross-border transactions. For this purpose, it will address the relevant legal framework regarding crowdfunding and crowdinvesting transactions, with a focus on the European and Italian legal framework. Moreover, it will provide students with a basic knowledge of the tools needed to assess the contents of the main types of contracts used in international trades, as well as the most frequent consequences arising out of international contracts, which are also relevant for crowdfunding transactions. On the basis of the knowledge acquired, students will be finally able to successfully address the new challenges posed by crowdfunding cross-border transactions.
The course consists of 5 Modules:
1. Presentation of the course
2. An introduction to crowdfunding and crowdinvesting
3. Jurisdiction in crowdfunding transactions
4. Applicable law in crowdfunding transactions
5. Agreements on jurisdiction and applicable law in crowdfunding transactions
Learning objectives:
This course will equip students with the necessary skills to face the main challenges posed by cross-border crowdfunding transactions, an alternative source of financing of growing importance in the European and Italian market. To this end, they will learn to use the correct terminology of international contract law and become familiar with the legal institutions of private international law relevant to crowdfunding transactions.
Thanks to the engaging activities proposed, they will learn how to solve legal issues related to crowdfunding transactions in practice by applying the rules and regulations studied during the course. In other words, students will not only know the content of the rules applicable to each case, but will also be able to identify such rules in a real case scenario, as they will learn to navigate through the stratified system of legal texts adopted at national and supranational level with regard to international contracts. Lectures will focus on the practical aspects of the subject. With these legal skills, students will be able to work in international contexts, in particular for companies operating on an international scale.