February 8, 2019 @ 8:23 am By JD Alois  |  

Securities Fraud 101 Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Enforcement Division filed a complaint against online gaming firm Kizzang and founder Robert Alexander. The SEC alleges that from February 2013 to mid 2017, Alexander raised approximately $9 million from 53 different investors. Unfortunately for… Read More

February 8, 2019 @ 7:40 am By JD Alois  |  

The British Embassy Rome and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in collaboration with Borsa Italiana are calling for nominations for the “Women in Finance – 2019 Italy Awards.” The Awards strive to celebrate female talent and the value of diversity in the financial sector. The Awards are… Read More

February 8, 2019 @ 2:19 am By JD Alois  |  

In an open letter to Canadian securities regulators, leading investment crowdfunding platform FrontFundr pointed a finger at provincial regulators and their inability to foster a robust ecosystem for online capital formation for early-stage Canadian firms. Signed by Peter-Paul Van Hoeken, who is CEO of FrontFundr… Read More

February 7, 2019 @ 5:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

GlobexUS Holdings Corp has selected Mitch Edwards as its Chief Strategy Officer. Globex is a blockchain based securities software company. The STO focused firm provides the tech, compliance and trading software to facilitate digital assets. Globex provides several different services including Tokenetics, a Software-as-a-Service ERC-20 digital… Read More

February 7, 2019 @ 5:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

StreetShares, an online small business lender, has filed a Form 1-A with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). By using Regulation A, or Reg A+, StreetShares may raise up to $50 million from both accredited and non-accredited investors. Reg A+ has been described as a… Read More

February 7, 2019 @ 12:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

The House Financial Services Committee is one of the most powerful Congressional committees on the Hill. The Committee oversees not only the entire financial services industry but its policy portfolio also includes other overlapping responsibilities such as Housing, entrepreneurship and international financial organizations. Last election… Read More

February 7, 2019 @ 10:42 am By JD Alois  |  

It was recently reported that Facebook has acquired Chainspace, a London-based blockchain startup described as a scalable distributed ledger and smart contract platform. The Chainspace website claims to deliver on “modern expectations of processing power, making it the platform of choice for complex real-world applications.”… Read More

February 7, 2019 @ 6:57 am By JD Alois  |  

Peer to peer lending platform Kuflink has launched a secondary market to provide liquidity for investors in their property backed loans. Kuflink said this was the first of several new enhancements planned for 2019. The platform said that lenders can list most loan parts on… Read More

February 7, 2019 @ 1:00 am By JD Alois  |  

OurCrowd, the world’s largest investment crowdfunding platform and Israel’s most active venture investor, has posted the agenda for the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit scheduled for this coming March in Jerusalem, Israel.  The Summit theme is “Startups: Making a Global Impact.” The OurCrowd investment community currently consists… Read More

February 6, 2019 @ 8:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

Is QuadrigaCX Safe? “QuadrigaCX has been developed by some of the foremost leaders in the crypto currency community, and employs some of the most stringent security protocols that currently exist. Furthermore, Bitcoins that are funded in QuadrigaCX are stored in cold storage, using some of… Read More

February 6, 2019 @ 6:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Overstock (NASDAQ:OSTK) has issued a release that touts the accomplishments of its blockchain focused securities platform tZero. Overstock is, of course, a discount e-commerce platform – not exactly a business that one would expect to seek to disrupt the financial services industry. But founder Patrick… Read More

February 6, 2019 @ 2:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed changes to the 2017 final rule governing “Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans.” In brief, the CFPB is proposing to “rescind the rule’s requirements that lenders make certain underwriting determinations before issuing payday, single-payment vehicle title,… Read More

February 6, 2019 @ 12:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

Hedera Hashgraph has announced the appointment of Lionel Chocron as their Chief Product Officer. Chocron was most recently at Oracle where he led their emerging technology (ie blockchain, IoT, AI) solution efforts. Depending on how you exactly measure it, Oracle is the 2nd largest software provider in the world…. Read More

February 6, 2019 @ 12:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

TD Bank has posted a release saying a recent survey they completed indicates blockchain has moved from buzzword to benefits. According to the Bank’s survey of financial professionals, the risk of payments fraud/cybersecurity topped their list of concerns, with 44% naming it their top operational… Read More

February 6, 2019 @ 11:40 am By JD Alois  |  

The House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions, has scheduled a hearing for later next week to discuss the topic Cannabis and banking in a hearing entitled “Challenges and Solutions: Access to Banking Services for Cannabis-Related Businesses.” The Subcommittee is Chaired by New… Read More

February 6, 2019 @ 10:02 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, Crowdfund Insider covered the annual Deal report from Beauhurst. The research targeting equity investment in the UK provides a fascinating snapshot of the progress of capital formation for promising young firms in Great Britain. The authors note that while overall investment declined during 2018,… Read More

February 6, 2019 @ 8:38 am By JD Alois  |  

Just about every financial regulator has had their say about cryptocurrency and a recommended regulatory approach. While some have drawn a line in the sand, others continue to evaluate before crafting bright-line rules. Understandably, it has taken some time for policymakers to get up to… Read More

February 6, 2019 @ 8:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Raisin, an online marketplace for savings and investment products, has closed a Series D funding round raising $114 million. This brings total funding for the Fintech to $200 million. Raisin said that existing investors Index Ventures, PayPal, Ribbit Capital and Thrive Capital all participated in… Read More

February 5, 2019 @ 8:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Revolut has announced an agreement with WeWork to provide Revolut for Business customers with 3 months free “hot desk space.” WeWork is one of the leading shared office space providers that has a reputation for hosting legions of early-stage companies around the world. The privately… Read More

February 5, 2019 @ 1:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

CrowdStreet, a real estate crowdfunding platform providing access to commercial real estate for smaller investors, is reporting “extremely high demand” for their first ever blended portfolio offering. Announced last October, CrowdStreet states that the portfolio saw significant demand during a period of exceptional market volatility. Apparently, the fund… Read More