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As was previously reported, TWINO, a peer to peer lending marketplace for consumer loans, has been approved by the Latvian Financial and Capital Market
Commission (FCMC) to operate as an Investment Brokerage. TWINO has now shared some additional information as to how it will operate going forward.
According to a note from TWINO, during the next 6 months, it will transition into a new operating model. Investment loans will be packaged into regulated financial instruments.
These new securities must comply with investor protection guarantees. These benefits will not apply to existing investments.
TWINO will be required to assign one of three possible MiFID II client status categories (retail client, professional client, or eligible counterparty) to investors to ensure that they receive the appropriate protection and support for their level of experience, knowledge, and expertise. Investor categories that have already been assigned to investor profiles.
TWINO has posted a blog outlining the changes in greater detail.
Roberts Lasovskis, Chairperson of the Board of TWINO Investments, says after the transitional period TWINO will expand its offerings for European retail investors. These will include more traditional stocks, bonds, CFDs, and ETFs. He did not mention digital assets.
Lasovskis did note that licensing is a major step that promotes the transparency of the industry:
“Acquiring the license has been time-consuming and challenging, but it’s absolutely worth it. It is very likely that the licensed companies will be the first choice for investors, and we can already see the growing investor interest, due to more security and the reimbursement guarantees that a regulated environment will provide.”
Anastasija Oļeiņika, a board member at TWINO Investments, said that Latvia was the obvious and logical choice of regulatory jurisdiction for a Fintech that has a strong presence in the country.
“Today Latvia can be described as a place with a strong technology ecosystem with innovative companies. Therefore, having analysed several potential jurisdictions, TWINO chose to apply for the license in Latvia.”
TWINO is spot on that regulation combined with more services is the correct path for its platform. By being regulated by the FCMC, consumers will gain greater assurance as to the feasibility of the platform.
TWINO currently operates in 30 different European countries claiming around 50,000 retail investors. Since 2015, TWINO has facilitated over €870 million. The TWINO international group, established in 2009, has issued loans of more than €1.4 billion.
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