증권형 및 대출형 크라우드펀딩 제도의 규제차익에 관한 연구-스타트업의 자금조달 활성화 관점에서-

The Online Investment-linked Finance Act also known as the P2P Lending Act which regulates P2P lending i.e., lending-based crowdfunding activities became effective from August 27, 2020 through which, along with securities-type crowdfunding, the legislation of investment-type or profit-seeking crowdfunding systems that involve investment in terms of money providers i.e., investors has been completed in Republic of Korea. The Online Investment-linked Finance Act introduced P2P lending as an alternative system for small and medium-sized public finance, but not only individual small and medium-sized people but also business owners who run businesses could use P2P lending; thus lending-based crowdfunding could function as an important alternative financing tool for startups. In this regard, securities- and lending-based crowdfunding can be distinguished by equity and debt capital formation methods, but fundamentally, both are economically similar in that both are start-ups' financing methods. Therefore, a theoretical and policy study on how to understand the regulatory logic and regulatory arbitrage of both systems can serve as a foundation for future development of both systems and as facilitation of financing means for startups.
This paper analyzes the status of the securities-based crowdfunding market over the past five years after the system was introduced, and confirms that the market is well settled as a means for financing startups with less than three years of foundation history like the introduction purpose of the system. In addition, the amount of funding is mainly raised through crowdfunding with less than KRW 300 million, and ordinary investors are also investing small amounts of about KRW 1 to 2 million. The lending-based crowdfunding market has very fast grown, with the total amount of loans reaching KRW 10 trillion on a cumulative basis, but several side effects have been revealed, with the default rate reaching more than 20%, just like the shadow of rapid growth. This author believe that the re-growth of the lending-based crowdfunding market will depends on how much such side effects of the P2P lending market stabilize and how much confidence can be restored in the market.
Next, this paper explains the basic structure and main contents of securities- and lending-based crowdfunding regulations, and then briefly introduces issues that are included in MP Hyungbae Min's draft bill amending the Capital Markets Act and the Financial Services Commission's development plan of securities-based crowdfunding. Following the introduction, this paper further explores regulatory improvement issues maintained by this author that are points on the overhaul of calculation method of the issuance limit, improvement of the criteria for resaleability, expansion of eligible securities and issuers, and deregulation of advertisement regulation. It is hoped that the parliamentary discussion of MP Hyungbae Min's draft bill will also include the issues I raised in this paper in the future. Through this, I hope that securities-based crowdfunding can be used as an important means of financing for startups in times of difficulty.