Fagura to expand into Romania after gaining EU licence
Moldova-based lending marketplace Fagura is expanding into Romania after gaining its EU crowdfunding licence.
Following approval from the Financial Supervisory Authority in Romania, Fagura is set to launch a Romanian website domain, fagura.ro, which will offer online loans for small and micro companies in the country.
Investors will be able to choose companies to invest in based on the detailed business plans made available, with options to use the auto-invest functionality or secondary market.
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“Expanding into Romania represents a significant phase in Fagura’s journey,” said Tudor Darie, chief executive of Fagura.
“This strategic move is poised to bring several advantages: diversification of the client base, a steep increase in the number of potential investors and borrowers, and, last but not least, our first step into the European Union arena. It’s a new, exciting, but challenging territory.
“We are also preparing to officially launch the project in the Romanian market within the next two months, further extending our reach and impact.”
Fagura said that key elements of its regulatory approval process included demonstrating a robust product and technology offering, as well as a solid business plan. It was also required to show it had strong risk assessment capabilities and a commitment to transparency and reporting.
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Legal counsel was provided by CEE Attorneys – Boanță, Gadei și Asociații.
The EU crowdfunding permissions come after several changes at Fagura. In July, the platform announced that it had launched a new version of its secondary market that allows fractional investing and sales of amounts greater than €100 (£85).
Furthermore, investors now have the opportunity to buy loans from Fagura’s own portfolio on the secondary market. Fagura co-funds loans that are not fully funded by investors and lists these on the secondary market at a later stage.