Euronext Initiates Crowdfunded Securities Trading on its Expert Market Platform

Euronext has initiated the inaugural buy and sell orders of a crowdfunded security today on its Expert Market platform, according to a Euronext statement.

Euronext Expert Market, formerly the Belgian Public Auctions Market, is an electronically traded market based on Euronext’s Universal Trading Platform (UTP), which offers the sale of non-listed securities by public auction. The platform is based out of Belgium, and is classified as a Multilateral Trading Facility as well as the first market of its kind in Europe to be erected by an exchange.

These initial orders at Euronext Expert Market will subsequently lead to the first secondary transaction in a crowdfunding instrument in Europe, which is slated to take place on March 1, 2016 given the matching of outstanding orders. In particular, the traded instruments in question are participatory notes in the Belgian company Domobios, as issued by the crowdfunding platform MyMicroInvest.

This inaugural trade is important for both Euronext and the broader market as it opens up new perspectives and opportunities for crowdfunding investors who are intent on transferring their participation to a third party in a transparent and established environment.

MyMicroInvest has already been a mainstay in the Belgian crowdfunding market since 2012, having already financed forty-one companies, raising upwards of €14 million along the way. By extension, Domobios is one of MyMicroInvest’s crowdfunding campaigns, which is itself related to healthcare.

Prior to now, an investor who desired to sell his or her participation in a crowdfunded company had to first find a buyer themselves, with whom they mutually had to agree on a sales price. Once a buyer was found however, the investor had to ask MyMicroInvest to update the Registry of Notes to reflect this change of ownership. However, following the new capabilities afforded by Euronext, investors in crowdfunded securities issued by MyMicroInvest can now contact their broker (a member of Expert Market) as outlined on Euronext’s website.

According to José Zurstrassen, Executive Chairman of MyMicroInvest, in a recent statement on the trading: “This represents the ultimate opportunity to make the crowdfunding market more transparent, more liquid and therefore more appealing to a larger audience. We are very proud to introduce the world of crowdfunding into the Euronext Expert Market, which will be the first such operation in Europe.”

“This first transaction proves that Stock Exchange and crowdfunding can benefit from each other’s strengths. Crowdfunding needs a secure and transparent secondary market. Euronext Expert Market offers new options for crowdfunding investors looking to assess better the timeframe of their investment - including the exit strategy - and smoothly transfer their shares,” added Vincent Van Dessel, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Euronext Brussels, in an accompanying statement.

Euronext has initiated the inaugural buy and sell orders of a crowdfunded security today on its Expert Market platform, according to a Euronext statement.