On   October   2   around   60   researchers, practioners and policy   makers met in Utrecht for  the  2nd edition  of  the  European Alternative  Finance  Research  Conference to discuss ongoing research    and    its implications for theory and practice. After  the  keynote  by  Nir  Vulkan  entitled ‘Equity crowdfunding –a good idea?’ which centred   around   the   evolution   of equity crowdfunding  in  the  UK  and  Europe,  the participants  listened  and  discussed  ideas around (in)formal institutions for crowdfunding  in  different  sectors,  the  phenomenon  equity  crowdfunding  and  later  peer-to-business lending as well as new trends such as ICOs.

In  the  afternoon  Joachim  Schwerin,  Armando  Melone  (both European  Commission)  and Robert   Pettigrew   (UK P2P Finance Association)   reflected   upon   the   current   state   of crowdfunding  regulation  in  the  UK  and  Europe  and  different  approaches  to  policy  making. The  conference  concluded  with several  break-out sessions  on  access  to  finance  for sustainability and reward-based crowdfunding.

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