Demand-driven securities regulation: evidence from crowdfunding

In Canada, the Ontario Securities Commission is currently contemplating legislation to permit crowdfunding, largely in response to demand pressure from entrepreneurs and other stakeholders. Empirical evidence is consistent with the view that the adaptability of a country’s legal system facilitates access to finance (e.g., Beck, Demirgu¨c-Kunt, and Levine 2005; Cumming and Johan 2008). But whether securities laws should be adaptable to demand pressures to permit crowdfunding is unclear.