Mintos, one of the largest European platforms for investing in loans, announced on Thursday that it obtained an investment firm and electronic money institution licenses from the Latvian regulator Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC). According to the press release shared with Finance Magnates, the manoeuvre allows the firm to target retail investors.

As of press time, the company has granted around €7 billion in loans through over 90 alternative lending companies globally. “Adjusting the business setup and aligning all of the regulatory and licensing requirements has been a unique journey for us and the regulator. It took us almost two years to get here, and I am very pleased to see this come to fruition. The work with the regulator has been very constructive, ensuring that we and those that will follow and implement best practices when it comes to the regulated setup and investor protection,” Martins Sulte, Mintos’ CEO and Co-Founder, commented on the announcement.

Licensing Taking Effect Immediately

Starting today, Mintos is now under the supervision of Latvia’s FCMC, allowing clients with investments in Notes to get protection by the MiFID II investor protection framework, Prospectus Regulation, Packaged retail investment, and insurance products (PRIIPs), Investor Protection Law and other regulations.

“The licenses will allow us to offer investors even more investment opportunities and will pave our way to becoming the go-to investment platform for retail investors in Europe who are looking to build their wealth long term,” Sulte added. Also, with the new license, the loans investing platform could start offering new products such as ETFs to retail investors.

Looking ahead, Mintos, launched in 2015 and with over 420,000 registered users, expects to passport its operations across the EU/EEA at any time this year. “Meanwhile, the electronic money institution license will allow Mintos to offer a payment account and other payment services,” the company pointed out.