P2P lending in Europe: which authority licenses which platform

Updated: 3 October 2026

Each European P2P platform answers to the authority that licensed its operating entity. Mintos, Debitum and Twino hold Latvian investment-firm licences. Estateguru OÜ has held an Estonian crowdfunding authorisation since 8 May 2023 (Finantsinspektsioon). Bondora AS, however, holds an Estonian credit-provider licence.

Home state, authority and licence of nine platform entities

The table lists the operating entity, home state, supervising authority and licence wording as each source states it. Sources were read on 3 October 2026 unless a date is given.

Latvia holds three of the entities, and all three licences date from August and September 2021. For market size and the split by crowdfunding type, see types of crowdfunding. Latvijas Banka took over supervision of the financial and capital market on 1 January 2023. On the same date, the Financial and Capital Market Commission was integrated into the central bank. Mintos's announcement and Crowdfund Insider had named it as the licensing authority on 19 August 2021.

Brand versus licensed entity at Mintos, Go & Grow, PeerBerry and Estateguru

A licence belongs to one legal entity, so four platform brands below need reading entity by entity.

• Mintos: Its help page, updated 3 January 2023, lists a MiFID II investment-firm licence and an electronic money institution licence. The page also says that "no Mintos Group company holds a crowdfunding service provider license".
• Go & Grow: The product is issued by Go&Grow OÜ. But the credit-provider licence sits with its parent Bondora AS, as the Go & Grow homepage states.
• PeerBerry and Crowdpear: PeerBerry's 28 January 2022 post says the crowdfunding licence holder is Crowdpear and that PeerBerry and Crowdpear have the same shareholders. In a 6 September 2021 post, PeerBerry says it decided to withdraw its application for an "IBF license" in Latvia. Now the user agreement names Peerberry d.o.o. as the contracting entity.
• Estateguru in Lithuania: The Bank of Lithuania's notice of 24 July 2025 says Estateguru Lietuva, UAB is not authorised to provide crowdfunding services. Estateguru Lietuva, UAB was removed from its public list on 19 July 2023 at the company's request, the notice adds. The notice describes that entity's activity as maintaining client relationships and gathering information for project assessment, and it names Estateguru OÜ as the Estonian provider. On 3 October 2026 the Estateguru homepage carries a conflicting company statement next to that notice. Estateguru Lietuva, UAB, the statement says, "is included in the Public List of Operators of Concentrated Financing Platforms" of the Bank of Lithuania.

Maclear AG, in its own words, is a "Swiss P2P/P2B crowdlending platform" with an address at Richtistrasse 7, Wallisellen. Its homepage counters read €158.4M+ funded and 56,435 investors on 3 October 2026 (Maclear).

How many providers each EU country hosts, according to ESMA's 2025 report

ESMA's report on 2024 data puts France first with 50 providers, then Italy with 27 and Spain with 25. Chart 7 of the same report places the Netherlands fourth and Lithuania fifth. Only providers that had authorised status and had begun raising capital by the end of 2024 are counted.

Three further points from the report separate the national markets:

• Twenty-one EEA countries had at least one such provider. They are AT, BE, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, IE, IT, LT, LV, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SE and SK. Nine countries returned null reports (BG, GR, HR, HU, IS, LI, LU, NO, SI).
• Lithuania has had national crowdfunding legislation since 2017, France a national regime since 2014 and the Netherlands since 2020. ESMA ties the development of those markets to the early start.
• Cross-border shares differ by home state: providers in Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia served only domestic investors. ESMA reports cross-border shares of 100%, 77% and 47% for Malta, Estonia and Latvia. However, its prose and chart differ on whether these are client counts or invested amounts. Across all providers, 8% of funding came from other countries.

CNMV's list gives the Spanish side at entity level. It shows 27 entries, reaching reference 25 with an effective date of 4 October 2024 and reference 27 on 3 October 2025 (CNMV).

ESMA's dataset comes from returns by authorised crowdfunding service providers. Yet Mintos's own licensing help page says that no Mintos Group company holds such a licence.

ECSPR, MiFID II, consumer credit and the FCA compared

Four regimes decide who supervises a platform, and the borrower and the instrument usually decide which one applies.

ECSPR has applied since 10 November 2021, with a transition period to 10 November 2023 (Commission). MiFID II exempts crowdfunding service providers as defined under ECSPR (Article 2(1)(p), ESMA rulebook). So an ECSPR provider sits outside MiFID II for those services. Mintos, whose licensing help page says no Mintos Group company holds a crowdfunding licence, points to MiFID II on its protection page. Per the same Mintos page, the Latvian investor compensation scheme is limited to outstanding liabilities up to €20,000. Price and liquidity losses fall outside it. Alternative Credit Investor quotes the 2021 announcement that Mintos would offer regulated notes through its platform instead of loans.

Consumer loans enter the new consumer credit directive on 20 November 2026

ECSPR excludes crowdfunding services for consumer project owners, and the new consumer credit directive addresses consumer credit from 20 November 2026. Article 48 requires Member States to apply their transposing measures from that date (Official Journal text, Spanish version at boe.es). Recital 22 states that crowdfunding credit service providers who grant credit directly to consumers follow the provisions for lenders. Those who intermediate credit between professional lenders and consumers, it adds, are treated as credit intermediaries. Article 46(2) required the Commission to assess, by 20 November 2025, protection for consumers using platforms that facilitate credit between consumers. Law firm Abreu Advogados summarises the same point on platform roles.

UK platforms: FCA authorisation

In its handbook, the FCA describes the regulated activity of operating an electronic system in relation to lending (article 36H). PERG 2.7.7H calls this activity "aimed at what are sometimes referred to as peer-to-peer lending platforms". FCA rules announced on 4 June 2019 added an appropriateness assessment where no advice is given. They also added a limit of 10% of investable assets for retail customers new to P2P (FCA). On its crowdfunding page, last updated 10 July 2026, the FCA states that investors in loan-based or investment-based crowdfunding won't have access to the FSCS. For authorisation, the page points to its Firm Checker.

Licensing and passports for European P2P platforms: FAQ

Which authority supervises Mintos?

Latvijas Banka supervises Mintos, whose operating entity AS Mintos Marketplace holds an investment-firm licence valid from 17 August 2021 according to the Latvijas Banka register.

Does an ECSPR authorisation in one country cover the others?

Yes, within the EU. According to the Commission, a single authorisation lets platforms offer services across the EU. For cross-border ECSPR services, the provider files the required information with its home-state authority. That authority notifies the host authorities and ESMA under Article 18. Starting cross-border services follows Article 18(4) (Regulation text). The AMF's page on Estateguru OÜ records French operations from 1 June 2023 under the Estonian authorisation. Under Article 14 ECSPR, ESMA keeps the register of providers. The UK sits outside ECSPR, so a UK platform carrying on regulated P2P lending activity normally needs the relevant FCA permission.

Is Go & Grow covered by ECSPR rules?

Go & Grow's homepage describes Bondora AS as a licensed credit provider and says Go&Grow OÜ is not a credit provider. So the licence statement to check is the credit-provider one. ECSPR excludes crowdfunding services provided to consumer project owners, which narrows its reach for consumer-loan products.

How can I check a UK platform?

Use the FCA Firm Checker, because the ESMA register covers ECSPR providers only. Per the FCA's crowdfunding page, the Firm Checker is the way to confirm that firms are authorised and registered.

Which countries reported no active crowdfunding providers to ESMA?

Nine: Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway and Slovenia returned null reports for 2024. In ESMA's description, these null reports confirm that they had authorised no active providers in that period. A country with no home-based active provider can still have residents who invest abroad. Chart 11 from ESMA, on investors by country of residence, lists each of these countries. The 2024 reporting population covers providers with authorised status that had begun raising capital by the end of 2024.