October 7, 2020 @ 8:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Closing an Important Chapter LendingClub (NYSE:LC), the leading marketplace lender in the US, has filed an 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission stating it will cease offering Retail Notes as of the end of 2020. In an email distributed to LendingClub retail investors, the… Read More

October 7, 2020 @ 7:44 am By JD Alois  |  

Raisin, a European Fintech that leverages open banking to offer a deposit marketplace, says growth in the UK has topped expectations in spite of the ongoing COVID-19 health challenge. Raisin claims it is going “against trend” and has passed its 2020 annual growth target of… Read More

October 7, 2020 @ 7:13 am By JD Alois  |  

Assetz Capital, a peer to peer lenders, says it has completed its securities offering on Seedrs that was matched by Future Fund money. In total, Assetz Capital raised £1.5 million with half of that amount coming from retail investors. The Future Fund is used for… Read More

October 6, 2020 @ 2:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

B-North, a Fintech that is looking to acquire a bank license, is raising capital on Growth Capital Ventures (GCV). According to the offering page, B-North has raised over £1.23 million – topping its hurdle of £500,000. Craig Peterson, co-founder and chief operating officer of GCV,… Read More

October 6, 2020 @ 2:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the European Central Bank published a report published addressing the possibility of the issuance of a digital euro. The report was prepared by the Eurosystem High-Level Task Force on central bank digital currency (CBDC) and approved by the Governing Council thus representing he… Read More

October 6, 2020 @ 1:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

  BNP Paribas Securities Services has partnered with Curv to complete a proof of concept on the transfer of security tokens (digital securities) securely between market participants. BNP Paribas Securities Services and Curv used the ERC1400 token standard. According to BNP Paribas, the test saw… Read More

October 6, 2020 @ 1:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a ban on cryptoasset derivative products for retail investors. The decision came after an extended consultation pertaining to the issue. The ban did not impact spot trading for cryptoassets like Bitcoin or Ethereum. The FCA outlined… Read More

October 6, 2020 @ 9:40 am By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, the European Union approved crowdfunding rules that will apply to all member states thus finally offering a pan-European approach to online capital formation while removing much of the friction in the current ecosystem that suffers from regulatory fragmentation. Industry participants, along with industry… Read More

October 6, 2020 @ 9:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Digital bank Revolut has launched a new feature that enables its users to track subscriptions and re-occurring payments to more easily manage these expenditures.  The “Subscriptions” feature organizes these charges in a single location so users can see how much they are spending and on… Read More

October 6, 2020 @ 7:01 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has instituted a ban on the sale of crypto derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) that reference cryptoassets for retail investors, according to a note distributed by the regulator. The ban goes into effect on January 6, 2021. The decision… Read More

October 5, 2020 @ 8:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

John McAfee, a blockchain advocate and former software entrepreneur that created McAfee ant-virus software, is the target of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement action pertaining to the promotion of initial coin offerings (ICOs). The civil action by the SEC was joined by criminal… Read More

October 5, 2020 @ 6:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, BitMEX (Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange), a top crypto/crypto-derivatives exchange that is operated by HDR Global Trading Limited, a Republic of Seychelles incorporated entity, was hit with a civil enforcement action emanating from the Commodity Futures Trading Future Commission (CFTC). Simultaneously, a criminal lawsuit by… Read More

October 5, 2020 @ 3:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

  The United Kingdom Crowdfunding Association (UKCFA), the leading industry voice in the UK for online capital formation, has commented on the merger announced today between Seedrs and Crowdcube. The two trailblazers in the Fintech sector of online capital formation have dominated the UK crowdfunding… Read More

October 5, 2020 @ 12:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Digital bank Starling has announced the launch of online banking for its personal and joint bank account customers. The new online portal will allow Starling Bank’s customers to manage their money from their desktop or laptop as well as their smartphones. Previously, Starling had been… Read More

October 5, 2020 @ 12:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Whitehall Finance, a working capital platform, is crowdfunding on Seedrs. The Fintech is seeking up to £350,000 for equity at a pre-money valuation of £3.5 million. As of today, the EIS qualified offering has raised £114,000 from 21 individual investors. The company reports that it… Read More

October 5, 2020 @ 10:33 am By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has entered a consent order against Jon Barry Thompson of Easton, Pennsylvania, imposing injunctive relief and restitution of approximately $7.4 million. In a parallel action, the… Read More

October 5, 2020 @ 10:17 am By JD Alois  |  

WeInvest Capital Partners, a firm specializing in private equity real estate, real estate asset management and private equity, has selected Tokeny Solutions to tokenize the first real estate fund in Luxembourg. According to a note from Tokeny, WeInvest will use Tokeny’s tokenization services to provide… Read More

October 5, 2020 @ 9:28 am By JD Alois  |  

Two European payments firms, Nexi S.p.A. and SIA S.p.A. have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the integration of the two groups through the merger by incorporation of SIA into Nexi, according to a release. The MoU was executed by the respective shareholders, CDPE3… Read More

October 5, 2020 @ 8:14 am By JD Alois  |  

Crowdcube and Seedrs, the two dominant crowdfunding platforms in the UK, have put aside any competitive friction and agreed to merge the two platforms subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. The merger will combine the two dominant private investment platforms in the UK while creating… Read More

October 3, 2020 @ 8:12 am By JD Alois  |  

This past week, Kik, a company that raised over $100 million in an initial coin offering (ICO), lost a long legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The courts determined that Kik had raised capital in an unregistered securities offering thus transgressing securities… Read More