Assetz Capital asks investors to self-certify
Assetz Capital has told existing investors to self-certify what type of investor they are before making any new investments on the platform.
The different types of investor include a sophisticated lender, high net-worth investor and restricted investor.
The peer-to-peer lending platform has defined restricted investors as those that have not invested more than 10 per cent of their net assets into P2P lending in the last year and who plan to invest no more than 10 per cent in the next year.
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Assetz Capital said that if an investor has not completed the certification, they will not lose any new investment functionality in their dashboard and their existing investments will not be affected.
Any new funds sent or deposited without investors having certified or recertified in accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority rules will be placed in a holding account not earning interest. However, lenders will be able to withdraw funds from these accounts.
Assetz Capital said that the platform asks lenders to certify as to which type of investor they are every 12 months.
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Once certified, investors can re-certify at their own discretion if their circumstances or experience changes by contacting the platform’s customer support.
When certifying the type of investor they are, Assetz Capital investors also accept that the investments to which the promotions will relate may expose them to a significant risk of losing all of their money or other property invested and they are open to seek regulated financial advice.
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“It’s up to you which type of investor you want to certify as, and making your choice should take less than a minute of your time,” Assetz said in a blog on its website.
“Technically we could “auto-certify” anyone who has made more than one investment with us in the last two years as a sophisticated investor, but we think that choice should be yours.
“If someone made a £1 investment into the quick access account a month ago to “test the water” then invested another £10 in the 30-day access account three weeks later, they may not feel that they are a sophisticated investor yet, preferring instead to remain as a restricted investor for now.
“Equally, we generally have no way of knowing whether our lenders meet the high net-worth investor definition and someone who does might prefer to be certified accordingly.”
