As crowdfunding emerges as a serious alternative financing tool, a new Iosco report warns that regulatory regimes around the world will have to harmonise their approaches to an increasingly global industry.

The report lumps together two practices under the ‘financial return crowdfunding’ umbrella: peer-to-peer lending and equity crowdfunding. Driven by P2P lending, the market has doubled year-on-year for the last five years to an estimated $6.4 billion in 2013, says Iosco.This new source of funding has provided a boost to economic growth by directing credit to the real economy, filling a gap left by banks in the wake of the financial crisis, says Iosco, as well as offering a chance for portfolio diversification.

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