Equity crowdfunding is the process whereby individuals or the "crowd" invest in an unlisted company (a company that is not listed on a stock market) in exchange for shares in that company.
Equity crowdfunding is a great way to match companies who need funding with individuals who wish to invest. Investors become shareholders and have partial ownership of a company. Individuals get a share in the future success of a company they believe in. If the company fails investors can lose some, or all, of their investment.
Yes – crowdfunding is a regulated activity in the UK and each country across the world has specific regulations regarding the adoption of crowdfunding. In the UK crowdfunding is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
We carry out a proof of identity checks to ensure all investors are who they claim to be, and are not investing on behalf of somebody else. We want to comply with UK Anti Money Laundering regulations. These are set out to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism.
In order to carry out these checks we require some personal information and a copy or your identity document. If we are unable to verify your identity with the information you provide we may request a document to confirm your address. We will send you an email asking for this and a link to upload the document.
Please note if we are unable to verify your identity as an investor, we will not be able to process your investment and it may be cancelled as a result.
People resident in the United Kingdom who are either a "Certified High Net Worth Individual" or "Self-Certified Sophisticated Investor" (as these terms are defined in The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended)) or who can confirm that they will invest less than 10% of their net assets in this type of investment as a "restricted investor" (as this is defined in the FCA's Conduct of Business Sourcebook at Chapter 4.7).
You must not participate in investing in the company or make any other investments via RockVinyl's website if you do not meet any of these criteria and you must not complete the online registration process as an 'INVESTOR'.
No. Rockvinyl would like to keep their list of investors private.
If you are dominciled outside of the UK and EU, you are unable to invest using this website..
For a significant investment, we would be more than happy to enter into separate discussions as to whether we can accommodate this. It will be dependent on your particular circumstances and the regulatory framework in your country of residence. .
Please contact us via email if this interests you.
In order to invest via this platform you must be categorised as a "client" for regulatory purposes. All investors are required to successfully complete the "Appropriateness Test". All UK individual investors are treated as retail clients.
All UK investors using this platform are eligible to file a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Investors may be able to claim compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in cases where they believe they have been mis-sold. However, there is no FSCS cover for investments in Rockinyl.
ShareIn Limited are the company that Rockvinyl are working with to deliver our equity crowdfund. ShareIn (Firm Reference Number 603332) is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
ShareIn also provide the payment services for Rockvinyl and hold your money in a segregated client money account with Barclays Bank plc until it is invested. When you invest, the money should be transferred from your bank account to 'ShareIn Ltd'. The transfer details will be available at the time of investing.
Investing in companies such as Rockvinyl involves risks, including loss of all your capital, illiquidity, lack of dividends or interest, and dilution of share capital, and it should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. This type of investment is only for investors who understand these risks.
A full risk warning can be found here.
You can lose all the money you invested but nothing more.
For UK tax payers there are some very generous tax breaks to encourage investment in early stage companies such as RockVinyl. The scheme is referred to as the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the benefits are listed below.
There is no guarantee that this tax relief will apply to an investment in Rockvinyl as conditions apply and you are recommended to take your own tax advice.
1. Income Tax Benefit From EIS Tax Relief
Tax relief of 30% can be claimed by individuals on investments (up to £1m in one tax year) giving a maximum tax reduction in any one year of £300,000, provided you have sufficient Income Tax liability to cover it.
The shares must be held for at least three years from the date of issue or the tax relief will be withdrawn. EIS allowances are allocated individually; therefore a married couple could invest up to £2 million each tax year.
2. Capital Gains Tax Exemption (CGT)
Gains are exempt from CGT if the shares are held for at least three years and the income tax relief was claimed on them.
3. Loss Relief
If shares are disposed of at a loss, the investor can elect that the amount of the loss, less Income Tax relief given, can be set against income of the year in which they were disposed or, on income of the previous year instead of being set of against any capital gains.
4. Capital Gains Tax Deferral Relief
Payment of CGT can be deferred when the gain is invested in shares of an EIS qualifying company. The gain can be made from the disposal of any kind of asset but the Investment must be made one year before or three years after the gain arose – connection to company does not matter. Unconnected investors are eligible for relief from both Income tax and CGT referral relief.
For more information, please see the HMRC website.
There are no fees for making an investment in Rockvinyl.
You can cancel your investment pledge at any point before the offer is fully funded by emailing Rockvinyl. Once the invetsment has been issued you are unable to cancel your investment.
We want to give you superb customer service but sometimes things might go wrong. We can usually resolve most issues straightaway, so please email us at info@rockvinylworks.com to tell us how we can help. For complaints relating to arrangements made for this investment, or the process of investing or the handling of client money you should contact ShareIn at team@sharein.com. For further details on ShareIn's complaints process, please see the ShareIn Complaints Policy (https://sharein.com/complaints).
What you'll need to tell us so that we can help you:
- Your personal details,
- What's gone wrong and
- What you want us to do to put things right.
We'll be in touch with you as soon as we can and let you know what will happen next. We'll try to resolve your complaint within 3 working days. For more complex issues it's likely that we will need longer to look into what's happened and we may ask you for further information to help us reach a decision. We'll give you regular updates. And once we've dealt with your complaint, we'll go back and see what we can learn from your experience.
If you're unhappy with the outcome UK Residents can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to carry out an independent review of your complaint. In any event, you have the right to ask the FOS to review your complaint if we've been unable to resolve it within 8 weeks.
The FOS can help UK residents with most complaints if you are:
- A consumer
- A business employing fewer than 10 persons that has an annual turnover that doesn't exceed €2 million
- If you are unsure whether the FOS will consider your complaint, please contact them directly for advice. The service the FOS provides is free and impartial and contacting them at any stage of your complaint will not affect your legal rights. The contact details for the FOS are:
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9SR
Their phone numbers are +44 (0)300 123 9123 or +44 (0)800 023 4567.
You can send an email to: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
“Best execution” rules, which exist to make certain types of costs and processes more transparent to investors, will not apply to your investment on our platform, and we need to explain why that is. When you apply to purchase a share on our investment platform, your application will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the investment is closed, investments are issued directly by the company to the investor. These investments are not traded on a market of any kind.
So what does this have to do with “best execution” rules?
- “Best execution” means achieving the best possible result for customers when carrying out their orders via an execution venue.
- An “execution venue” refers to a facility that brings multiple parties together for buying and selling. This could be a regulated market, a multi-lateral trading facility (MTF), organised trading facility (OTF) or other entities that perform this role.
Because your transaction on our crowdfunding platform will not be carried out by an intermediary, third party or execution venue as defined above, nor do we provide a facility allowing you to resell your investment through an MTF, best execution rules do not apply
One of your rights under data protection law is the right of access to the personal data that we hold about you. The process of requesting your data is called a Subject Access Request (SAR).
How to ask for a SAR
If you want a copy of the personal data we hold (or simply want confirmation as to whether or not we process data about you), you must make a request, either in writing or verbally. Our contact details are here.
Please include the following in your SAR:
- Your full name, postal address, email address and telephone number
- The statement “I the undersigned and the person identified above hereby request that Rockvinyl (1) inform me of the personal data held about me OR (2) provide me with a copy of the personal data Rockvinyl hold about me.”
- [If request made in writing] Signature and date
What you can expect from us
Before releasing personal data we may have to take steps to confirm your identity. This could include requiring a piece of photo identification or answering a number of security questions related to your account.
Once we verify your identity, we will log your request, and we will search all databases to find any personal data we currently hold.
We will provide an electronic copy of your personal data within a month of your request.
Please be aware that there are circumstances in which the law allows us to extend the response time or charge an administrative fee. In either case, we will inform you by email within one month of receiving your request.
What you can do once you receive the data we hold
Once you receive the data we hold, you have the right to ask for data to be corrected or erased.
Please be aware that we may not always be able to erase personal data we may hold about you. If your personal data relates to an investment you have made, financial services regulation requires us to keep certain information on file for a period of 5 years.
In the event you have a complaint about the way we have handled your personal data or your SAR, you can count on us to take your complaint seriously.
If you feel your data protection rights have been violated and you do not feel you have had a satisfactory response from us , you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) https://ico.org.uk.
We will review any possible conflicts of interest that could harm investors and manage or eliminate these conflicts if and when they arise.