Financial Glossary

A form of collective financing where multiple individuals provide funds to a borrower — typically a company or project developer — through an online platform. Each participant lends a portion of the total amount sought. In the real estate context, funds are typically used to finance property development or acquisition projects. Under Chilean law, this activity falls within the scope of Ley 21.521 when conducted through an authorized platform.

Chile's financial markets regulator, created by Ley 21.000 in 2017. The CMF supervises banks, insurance companies, securities markets, and — since Ley 21.521 — collective financing platforms. It maintains a public registry of authorized entities, issues regulations and circulars, and has enforcement powers over the entities it supervises. The CMF's website (cmf.cl) is the authoritative source for information about regulated entities in Chile.

Chile's Fintech Law, enacted in 2023, which established a regulatory framework for financial technology services including collective financing platforms. The law requires platforms offering crowdlending and related services to obtain CMF authorization before operating. It also sets out the obligations of authorized platforms, participant protections, and the CMF's supervisory powers over the sector.

The term used in Chilean law for a platform that facilitates collective financing — bringing together people who want to fund projects with project developers seeking finance. Under Ley 21.521, these platforms must be authorized by the CMF. The authorization process involves demonstrating compliance with capital requirements, having appropriate governance structures, and implementing systems to protect participants.

The formal approval granted by the CMF to a platform wishing to operate as a collective financing platform in Chile. Without this authorization, a platform cannot legally offer crowdlending services in Chile. Authorization requires meeting specific requirements set out in Ley 21.521 and related CMF regulations. The CMF publishes a list of authorized platforms on its website, which anyone can consult to verify a platform's status.

Collective financing specifically applied to real estate projects. Participants pool funds to finance property development, construction, or acquisition. The real estate sector has specific characteristics — longer project timelines, property as underlying asset, construction risk — that affect how collective financing structures are designed and what disclosures are relevant for participants.

In the context of collective financing regulation, a participant is a person who contributes funds to a project through a platform. Chilean law and CMF regulations establish specific rights for participants, including rights to information about the projects they fund, rights to receive disclosures about the platform's operations, and rights to access complaint mechanisms if something goes wrong.

The public registry maintained by the CMF listing all entities it has authorized to operate in Chile. For collective financing platforms, appearing in this registry is evidence of CMF authorization. The registry is publicly accessible on the CMF's official website and is the primary way to verify whether a platform is operating legally under Chilean regulation.

A debt instrument in the crowdlending context is a financial arrangement where participants lend money to a project and expect repayment of principal plus interest over a defined period. The project developer is the borrower and the participants are the lenders. The terms — interest rate, repayment schedule, security arrangements — are typically set out in documentation provided by the platform before participation.

Disclosure obligations require authorized platforms to provide participants with specific information about projects and about the platform's own operations. Under Chilean regulation, platforms must disclose material information about projects before participants commit funds, and must provide ongoing updates about project status. Disclosure requirements are one of the key protections that CMF authorization is designed to ensure.

A circular is a regulatory document issued by the CMF to provide detailed rules, guidance, or requirements to the entities it supervises. Circulars typically implement or elaborate on the requirements set out in primary legislation like Ley 21.521. For collective financing platforms, CMF circulars set out specific operational, reporting, and conduct requirements that platforms must comply with to maintain their authorization.

A platform that offers collective financing services without having obtained CMF authorization. Operating without authorization is a violation of Ley 21.521. Participants who use unauthorized platforms do not benefit from the protections that CMF regulation provides — such as disclosure requirements, conduct rules, and complaint mechanisms. The CMF periodically publishes warnings about unauthorized platforms operating in Chile.

The interest rate in a crowdlending context is the rate at which the project developer agrees to pay interest on the funds borrowed from participants. It is typically expressed as an annual percentage. Platforms are required to disclose interest rate information clearly before participants commit funds. The interest rate reflects the terms of the specific project, not a general platform rate.

CMF-authorized platforms are required to have complaint and dispute resolution mechanisms available to participants. These mechanisms provide a way for participants to raise concerns about how the platform has handled their participation or about specific projects. The CMF itself also has a role in receiving complaints about authorized entities, and the Servicio Nacional del Consumidor (SERNAC) may have jurisdiction over certain consumer protection matters.