Moscow is studying the exchange of ideas for money

Intellectual property (IP)-backed lending remains a core challenge for the development of the creative economy and technology sector. The Bank of Russia calls the lack of an established practice for valuation of intangible assets and possible problems with the liquidity of collateral the main obstacles to such lending. However, the authorities intend to move on to practical steps in the development of loans secured by IP: yesterday, at the profile forum of the RSPP, it became known that the Ministry of Economy, the Moscow government, Rospatent and the Central Bank are launching a pilot for running in such lending – the risks of banks will be assumed by the city authorities.

Yesterday, at the RSPP Forum on Creative Industries and Intellectual Property, the head of the department for strategic development and innovation of the Ministry of Economy, Valeria Vorobyova, said that the agency, Rospatent, the Bank of Russia and the Moscow government are launching a pilot on lending secured by IP. Banks’ risks will be provided by the city authorities. According to her, the development of the scheme will give an understanding of the demand and risks that can be leveled at the level of legislation, and banks will get the necessary competencies.

Combining the topics of technological development and the creative sector of the economy at one RSPP forum is due to the fact that they are related to intellectual property issues, explained Alexander Shokhin, head of the union. The problem of attracting funds secured by IP is a key one for financing both sectors, which complicates the implementation of the government’s ambitious plans for their development (including an increase in the share of the creative economy to 6% of GDP from 2.4% in 2019, see Kommersant on 28 September 2021). The launch of non-state lending secured by IP is one of the measures to eliminate regulatory barriers to the draft concept of technological development of the Russian Federation until 2030 (Kommersant has it). Banks, however, are reluctant to lend secured by IP due to the lack of a developed market for such assets, the Central Bank says.

According to the first deputy head of the Moscow Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Development, Christina Kostroma, the project involves structuring transactions: “The Moscow Guarantee Fund can give a guarantee in the amount of 95% of a loan secured by IP”, testing of the mechanics has begun. To do this, the Moscow Savings Bank was invited to the project and they are looking for a suitable model deal. Researching the market, the department conducted a survey of about 1.8 thousand companies regarding their interest in such lending, but out of 150 potential borrowers, only 100 enterprises passed the preliminary scoring of the guarantee fund, after scoring by Sberbank there were 20 of them, and after studying their assets in the field of intellectual property, their number was reduced to three. They work out the practical aspects related to the issuance of a loan against guarantees, Mrs. Kostroma added.

According to her, when implementing the mechanism, it is necessary to solve the problems of the competence of bank employees to accept collateral rights, possible changes in scoring and the development of preferential programs (the proposed rates of 13-16% are uninteresting for businesses against the background of preferential loans at 3% per annum). “We clearly need to equalize the field in this matter, understanding the significance of this project,” the official noted. The question of who will conduct the asset valuation has not been resolved either (some of the project participants believe that it should be one authorized organization, and some that there should be several) and what its mechanism will be. The department is expected to reach the first real loan agreement at the end of February-March of this year.

Yury Bozhor, head of the expert group of the Bank of Russia’s consumer protection and financial inclusion service, considers the Moscow pilot promising, despite valuation problems and the lack of a developed market for the sale of collateral. “The option when a reliable guarantor takes on the issue of assessing and selling the asset, and the bank receives a guarantee, is quite viable,” he believes. At the same time, the current regulation makes it possible to take into account the guarantees of regional guarantee organizations as collateral for a loan, the representative of the regulator noted.

It is expected that the Central Bank, following the results of the project, will consider the possibility of adjusting its documents to reduce the requirements for reserves formed in relation to certain types of intellectual property accepted as collateral, the Ministry of Economy told Kommersant.

Venera Petrova