Who are DP Crowd?
DP Crowd are a team of experienced business
professionals, encompassing decades of professional experience in Accountancy,
Financial Advisory, Senior level management and real estate. Our aim is to
provide a robust, compliant approach to the private client debt investing market.
What is the minimum investment?
The minimum investment will vary for each individual offering. The minimum investment amount
will be stated on the offer documentation. Whilst some
offerings may be open to Restricted Investors, others may be strictly for
Sophisticated or professional type investors.
What happens if DP Crowd ceases to exist or falls into financial distress?
Funds invested
through DP Crowd
Each individual
project is ring-fenced and your funds would be invested in a debt or equity
investment outside DP Crowd – so you should think of DP Crowd as the transactional
processor and not the end holder of your monies, as your monies will have been invested directly in the debt or equity instrument you have selected.
Any funds that are
held in your wallet
This is a separate client money bank account held by ShareIn Ltd. The monies are ring-fenced from the monies of ShareIn Ltd and DP Crowd and will be returned to investors in the event of DP Crowd falling into financial distress. At no point do DP Crowd handle client money..
Is DP Crowd FCA regulated?
DP Crowd is
an appointed representative of Share In Ltd which is authorised and
regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (No. 603332). This allows DP Crowd
the appropriate permissions to represent equity and debt investments in a fully
compliant and regulated manner.
What is a loan note?
A
loan note is a legally binding agreement which evidences the existence of a
debt between a borrower (Issuer) and one or more Lenders (Noteholder(s)) and
the promise by the Issuer to repay the amounts outstanding under the Loan Note
to the Noteholder(s). It provides details such as the loan amount, repayment
dates and terms and method of security of the loaned funds.
What is a security trustee and what role do they perform?
A security trustee is
in place solely for the benefit of the investor. A security trustee will have a
floating charge over all the assets of the issuer. In the event of any default
of capital repayment or interest they can step in to sell assets to meet
repayments. The Trustee will also normally act in protecting the assets over
which it holds charge.
If I die what would happen to my investment?
Each
offering will have different specific rules which may vary from immediate
liquidation to passing to the estate, until the next liquidation window. The
specifics of each offering in the case of the holder's death will be stipulated
in the offering document.
What is crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is a method of funding a project or organisation by pooling the money of individual investors. It can provide a number of benefits beyond the financial including marketing, audience engagement and feedback. Crowdfunding allows good companies which don't fit the pattern required by conventional financiers to break through and attract cash. There are a number of types of crowdfunding but the 3 main categories are:
- Reward or donation based crowdfunding – these are not investments
- Loan crowdfunding (often referred to as peer-to-peer loans or debt crowdfunding)
- Equity crowdfunding
Who are ShareIn?
Share In Ltd ("ShareIn") are the company that DP Crowd are working with to deliver their debt and equity crowdfunding. ShareIn are authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 603332), and DP Crowd are an appointed representative of ShareIn (FRN 815836).
Who do I transfer funds to?
When you invest or top up your wallet, funds should be transferred to 'ShareIn Ltd'. ShareIn Ltd holds client monies in segregated accounts. ShareIn Limited (Firm Reference Number 603332) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The transfer details will be available at the time of investing.
How much return could I expect on my investment?
Investments in the opportunities presented on the DP Crowd platform carry high risks as well as the possibility of high rewards. It is consequently very speculative. As an investor, you should be aware that no established market exists for the trading of investments represented by DP Crowd. There could be difficulty in selling your investment at a reasonable price and, in some circumstances, it may be difficult to sell them at any price.
Who can invest?
People resident in the United Kingdom who are either a "Certified High Net Worth Individual" or "Self-Certified Sophisticated Investor" (as these terms are defined in The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended)) or who can confirm that they will invest less than 10% of their net assets in this type of investment as a "Restricted Investor" (as this is defined in the FCA's Conduct of Business Sourcebook at Chapter 4.7).
I am domiciled outside of the UK and EU, can I invest?
For a significant investment, we would be more than happy to enter into separate discussions as to whether we can accommodate this. It will be dependent on your particular circumstances and the regulatory framework in your country of residence. Please contact us at i[email protected] if this interests you.
When do I pay for the investment?
We offer a number of methods to allow you to pay for your investment.
We give investors the option to:
- fund the wallet linked to your account in advance and then use monies in this wallet to pay for your investment
- let us know you will be sending payment by bank transfer after you have placed your order
How am I categorised as a "client" for regulatory purposes?
In order to invest via this platform you must be categorised
as a "client" for regulatory purposes. All investors are required to
successfully complete the "Appropriateness Test". All UK individual
investors are treated as retail clients.
All UK investors using this platform are eligible to file a complaint to the
Financial Ombudsman Service. Investors may be able to claim compensation under
the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in cases where they believe they
have been mis-sold. However, there is no FSCS cover for investments into the products offered by DP Crowd.
Different regulations apply in different regions
and before being able to invest you will be asked to confirm that you meet the
eligibility requirements in your particular region.
What are the fees?
There are no fees payable by clients for making an investment through the DP Crowd platform. DP Crowd receive fees from the issuers and this does not have an impact on the amount invested nor the target interest received.
How do I make a complaint?
We want to give you superb customer service but sometimes things might go wrong. We can usually resolve most issues straightaway, so please email us at
[email protected] or via telephone on +44
0203 355 1178 to tell us how we can help.
What you'll need to tell us so that we can help you:
- Your personal details,
- What's gone wrong and
- What you want us to do to put things right.
We'll be in touch with you as soon as we can and let you know what will happen next. We'll try to resolve your complaint within 3
working days of receipt – if we’re unable to do this we will write to you
acknowledging that we have received your complaint and the next steps that will
be taken. For more complex issues it's likely that we will need longer to look into what's happened and we may ask you for further information to help us reach a decision. We'll give you regular updates. And once we've dealt with your complaint, we'll go back and see what we can learn from your experience.
If you're unhappy with the outcome UK Residents can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to carry out an independent review of your complaint. In any event, you have the right to ask the FOS to review your complaint if we've been unable to resolve it within 8 weeks.
The FOS can help UK residents with most complaints if you are:
- A consumer
- A business employing fewer than 10 persons that has an annual turnover that doesn't exceed €2 million
- If you are unsure whether the FOS will consider your complaint, please contact them directly for advice. The service the FOS provides is free and impartial and contacting them at any stage of your complaint will not affect your legal rights. The contact details for the FOS are:
The Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9SR
Their phone numbers are +44 (0)300 123 9123 or +44 (0)800 023 4567.
You can send an email to:
[email protected]
What is your Best Execution Policy?
"Best execution” rules, which exist to make certain types of costs and processes more transparent to investors, will not apply to your investments on our platform, and we need to explain why that is.When you apply to purchase a bond or share on our investment platform, your application will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Once an investment offer is closed, investments are issued directly by the company to the investor. These investments are not traded on a market of any kind.So what does this have to do with “best execution” rules?
- “Best execution” means achieving the best possible result for customers when carrying out their orders via an execution venue.
- An “execution venue” refers to a facility that brings multiple parties together for buying and selling. This could be a regulated market, a multi-lateral trading facility (MTF), organised trading facility (OTF) or other entities that perform this role.
Because your transaction on our crowdfunding platform will not be carried out by an intermediary, third party or execution venue as defined above, nor do we provide a facility allowing you to resell your investment through an MTF, best execution rules do not apply.
What Tax is paid on Bond Interest Payments?
Payments of interest to individual investors will be made after deducting tax equivalent to the UK basic rate of Income Tax (currently 20%) which we pay to HM Revenue & Customs. The exception to this requirement is where interest is paid to investors who hold bonds within an IFISA, in which case interest can be paid without deduction of tax. However it remains your responsibility to declare any interest paid and account for any additional tax that may be due to the appropriate tax authorities.
Is my investment secured?
Secured lending on property is not risk-free. There is a risk that if the underlying borrower defaults, or if there is a delay in realising the asset, then the security may not be sold for enough to cover the loan or may result in delayed repayment of investors’ money.