The UAE’s Central Bank has launched a consultation on a draft regulation on loan-based Crowdfunding Platforms or CFPs. The consultation ends on 10 October 2019. The aim is to establish a framework for licensing, regulating and monitoring loan-based CFPs and to set out the standards the Central Bank expects them to meet. The framework and standards are aimed at protecting the country’s financial system from the risks posed by CFPs and protect consumer interests in the country. It is also aimed at developing the FinTech sector in the UAE. If approved, it will apply to person(s) wherever they are domiciled who in engage in loan-based CFP operations in the UAE except in the Financial Free Zones. CFPs will be categorised according to their lending volume; a. Category 1 (Large), Cumulative loans facilitated in a calendar year at 5,000,000 AED or more or b. Category 2 (Small), Cumulative loans facilitated in a calendar year are below 5,000,000 AED. An applicant wishing to undertake loan-based CFP activities must apply to the Central Bank for a license and if their application is approved, they must undertake to provide a bank guarantee drawn in favour of the Central Bank and issued by a locally incorporated UAE bank of value equal to the required paid-up capital, among other things.