Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-14.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of lowering the qualification for investors in the start-up sector in order to grant lower net worth individuals more freedom to invest.

Jane Ellison

The Government agrees that it is important for consumers to have access to a diverse range of investment choices and for start-ups and SMEs to have access to a wide range of funding sources.

To this end, the Government has implemented a proportionate regime for peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding that gives retail investors the opportunity to invest in start-ups and SMEs. Retail investors can also benefit from other initiatives, including Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferrable Securities, where the fund can allocate up to 10% of assets to venture capital.

The Government has no plans to review the definition of sophisticated investors as set out in the Financial Promotions Order 2005.