MUTUAL (P2P) LENDING AS A MODERN TOOL FOR ALTERNATIVE FINANCING

Abstract

The article deals with P2P lending as one of the fastest growing forms of investment without the participation of credit institutions, which is currently in the legal vacuum due to the lack of special legal acts establishing the legal status, rights, obligations, responsibilities and guarantees of the participants of mutual financing. Along with such obvious advantages of P2P lending as the forming of an alternative investment market, accessibility, easy registration, and the use of modern technologies, there are shortcomings in the absence of the professional standards of P2P websites, control and supervision by the state, the risk of forming the «financial pyramids». The increased risks of the lenders are due to the lack of the objective criteria for the evaluation and comparison of the platforms for mutual lending and the impossibility of proper scoring of the borrowers using the credit reference bureau and the potential of cybercrime, because all the technology is concentrated on the Internet, and the minimum requirements for security do not exist. The need to adopt the special law that takes into account the current specifics of the P2P lending market is obvious.