After 300 or so raises on the ASSOB Equity Crowdfunding platform it may be valuable to others to understand what processes are in place to prevent fraud. Since 2005 there have been zero cases of fraud. Firstly though what is Fraud? Usually any definitions of fraud include statements like …

（所有投资者最关心的问题，莫过于资金安全），经过300家企业在ASSOB的融资经历，保罗的经验对于我们相当有价值。从2005年（创立了ASSOB）至今，欺诈案例的发生数目为零！

首先，如何定义“欺诈”？

• an untrue statement of a material fact
• 重要事实的不真实陈述
• representation that the person making it knows is not true
• 表述的人知道所表述的不真实
• doesn’t have the basis to make such a statement
• 不具备做如此陈述的基础
• to omit to state a material fact that is necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading
• 为陈述顺畅而省略了重要的事实，不同于令人误解

Often it is difficult to tell whether it is an “honest mistake” or “reckless disregard”. Where would you place the following examples choose from … an “honest mistake” or “reckless disregard”

经常很难区分“诚实的错误”和“粗心的忽视”。你可以试着看看下面的例子——

• Failure to transfer intellectual property into capital raising entity
• 未向融资实体支付知识产权
• TM expired, patents lapsed
• 商标到期，专利失效
• Failure to properly disclose contracts not at arms-length
• 在合理距离之外，不适当地披露合同
• Company or business does not exist. Founder or associate names are fake.
• 公司或业务不存在。创始人或助手姓名虚假
• Company or business claims to be associated with reputable businesses
• 公司或业务声称附属于某个知名企业
• Domain names are usually not in the correct names of the capital raising company.
• 域名与融资的企业名称不符
• Founders Issuing equity during a capital raising in addition to those in the raise offer document.
• 创始人将同样资产重复融资
• Failure to observe basic corporate governance obligations – lodging share notifications, holding Stockholder Meetings, preparing audited financials
• 未遵守基本的企业治理责任—发布股权通知，组织股东会议，准备审计的财报等
• Failure to send stock certificates or holding statements to investors
• 未向投资人发放股权证书或持股声明
• Material changes / events occurring and not keeping investors updated, e.g. intellectual property expired, material contracts fallen through.
• 重大事实的改变，未及时向投资人更新：如知识产权到期、重要合同落空等
• Undisclosed debt for equity or convertible notes transactions that exist prior to the raise
• 在融资前，未向股权投资及可转债的交易方披露已经存在的债务

The competent operation of the crowdfunding platform or portal is essential for the prevention of fraud in equity crowdfunding. Based on my experience with the ASSOB platform we have learned that it is very unlikely that fraudsters would be bothered jumping through all the hoops a competent platform or portal places in the path of each transaction.

众融平台的合格运营，是阻止股权众融欺诈的关键。根据ASSOB平台所积累的经验，欺诈者们极不可能跳出合格的众融平台或门户网站为交易的每个环节所设置的“包围圈”。

As a guide here are just some of the steps each transaction needs to pass through or adhere to for ASSOB raises:作为指南，这里有一些每个交易必须履行或坚持的步骤。

    •    An Intermediary exists. In most white collar fraud there is seldom a buffer between the fraudster and the victim. ASSOB has independant accredited partners to hold the hand of issuers during the raise process.
    •    中间人的存在。在大多数场合，白领欺诈就是因为很少有欺诈者和受害者之间的缓冲地带。ASSOB却有独立的合格合伙人，在融资流程中替（股票或股权）发行人（企业）来运作。

    •    Upfront Fee paid. Fraudsters often dont have the funds to pay to get a fraud started
    •    预付费制度。欺诈者常常没有资金开始一个欺诈行为。

    •    Founders and Entity Due Diligence. ASSOB has two stages of due-diligence. The first stage involves “ASSOB Legal ” checking out the capital raising entity, the founders and the IP to ensure all of this is appropriate and in the right entity for investment.
    •    创业人和融资实体的尽职调查。ASSOB设有两个阶段的尽职调查。第一阶段ASSOB的律师审查融资实体、创始人、与知识产权情况，以确保所有这些情况与正确主体相符。

    •    Marketing Materials Due Diligence. The second due-diligence stage is to check that the material used to market the offering gives a true and fair view. Any statements that misrepresent the opportunity are communicated as not appropriate and the issuer needs to resubmit.
    •    营销材料的尽职调查。第二阶段的尽职调查是为了检查用于营销的资料，是否给出真实和公平的观点。任何对投资机会的错误陈述，发行人都将被要求重新提交材料。

    •    Own Crowd feedback. Before the offering goes live the issuers own crowd has an opportunity to speak up if they done believe what is offered is legit.
    •    所有者公众的反馈。当融资生效，“观众”有机构说出他们对于项目合法性的判断。

    •    External Crowd feedback. Once the offering goes live there is plenty of opportunity for the world at large to report anything that doesn’t stack up.
    •    外部公众的反馈。一旦融资生效，仍然有大量机会让大多数人来报告任何没有被确认的细节。

    •    Funding Targets & Escrow. Targets and escrow mean that funds are not distributed unless special conditions are met.
    •    融资目标的第三者担保交付。融资的担保交付，意为资金不会被交付给融资人，除非符合某些特别条件。

    •    10 day Cooling off period. Investors can get their money back within 10 days of a transaction not needing to give a reason.10天的冷却期。
    •    投资人有权将投资无条件收回，在交易后10天内。

    •    3 Directors and Auditor. Directors and Auditors have responsibilities under the law and they will usually tend towards protecting themselves before turning a blind eye to fraud within an organisation.
    •    三名董事和审计。董事和审计人员有责任在法律框架下，在组织中趋向于保护他们自己，而非盲目行动而导致受骗。
 

All these steps, together with corporations law, provide a barrier to fraud that has yet to be breached at ASSOB. If equity crowdfunding platforms and portals take a similar responsible path then I’m certain that fraudsters will head for easier territory.

所有这些步骤，与公司法一起，给违反ASSOB法规的欺诈行为设置了门槛。如果股权众融的平台、或门户网站采取类似的负责途径，我可以肯定欺诈者们将“逃往（其它的）不设防区域”。

 

==附录==

澳大利亚"小规模上市板"（ASSOB）是全球最早的股权众融的实践。《世界银行2013年众融报告》中专门用了一个章节，来讨论ASSOB这个成功案例。众融投资从澳大利亚开始，然后英国跟随，然后北美、拉美、欧洲、中东、北非、亚洲等45个国家，都出现了活跃的众融投资平台。

Page 18, <World Bank Report 2013 for Developing World>

BOX 1.1. EARLY DATA FROM THE DEVELOPED WORLD.

《发达国家的早期数据》
Currently there is limited data to report on equity and debt-based crowdfunding, but Australia and the UnitedKingdom are demonstrating interesting results. After seven years of crowdfunding companies, the Australian Small Stock Offering Board (ASSOB) shows that 86 percent of companies crowdfunded on its platform were still operating in 2012 (Niederer 2012). This contrasts with
a figure of 40 percent of noncrowdfunded (non-ASSOB) companies that fail after three years.a

ASSOB用了7年时间，验证了在其平台上融资的86％的公司到2012年仍然在运营。而这与非ASSOB平台上的公司进行对照，大约有40％在3年后就失败了。

An engaged base of both customer and investors in the business is cited as one of the main reasons for longevity by ASSOB.b

客户与投资人对于企业的参与，被认为是“长寿”的一个主要原因。

ASSOB also vets deals prior to posting on their platform. Equity-based crowdfunding platforms have also launched in the Netherlands and Italy, and are legal but not yet effective in the United States.

ASSOB在项目发布前有严格的审查。股权众融平台在荷兰和意大利也已经出现了，也是合法的。但是在美国还未看到明显的效果。

No affirmative data yet exists to show investor returns from these platforms, though projected market size analysis has been completed by the University of California, Berkeley
(Best, Neiss, Stralser, and Fleming 2013) and well-regarded venture capitalist, Fred Wilson.

Debt crowdfunding in the United Kingdom has had some early successes in providing returns to investors. Since 2007 investors in companies listed on U.K.-based Funding Circle have completed financing totaling over £156 million (about US$250 million), receiving an annualized return
of 5.8 percent (after expenses and bad debt expense, but before taxes) with a 1.6 percent default rate.c

债权众融对于投资的回报在英国也取得了一些初步的成功。从2007年开始，融资额超过1.56亿英镑，年收益率为5.8％。

Note:注解

a. These figures are supported by two separate studies by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes U.S. entrepreneurship (Gage 2012). 这个数据也被另外两个独立研究所佐证：美国劳工统计局和考夫曼基金会
b. http://paulniederer.com/2013/07/july-2013-assob-and-the-u-sinterview/
c. Data correct as of June 2, 2013, see https://www.fundingcircle.