November 15, 2017 @ 4:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has revealed several changes to its advisory committees. These changes are designed to increase transparency around the committees and improve their effectiveness as a vehicle for firms to provide input on key issues before FINRA. The move is part… Read More

November 15, 2017 @ 4:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

The House Financial Services Committee has approved HR 3299 or the “Protecting Consumers’ Access to Credit Act of 2017.” The bill “restores consistency” in lending laws across state boundaries. HR 3299 impacts the case of Midland Funding, LLC v. Madden – an ongoing law suit… Read More

November 15, 2017 @ 9:13 am By JD Alois  |  

Lendix, online lender for SMEs in continental Europe, has announced the launch of a new financing product: the Flexible Bridge Loan. This product is designed to will allow a greater number of French, Spanish and Italian SMEs to benefit from the speed of execution of… Read More

November 15, 2017 @ 8:51 am By JD Alois  |  

Parity has taken a breather from its “all hands” call that went out last week when a nefarious character under the username of “devops199” destroyed the Parity library that blocked 587 wallets holding 513,774.16 ETH and a few other tokens. The vulnerability that devops199 uncovered allowed… Read More

November 14, 2017 @ 6:35 am By JD Alois  |  

FundedbyMe, a Sweden-based investment crowdfunding platform, has announced that is of this were it had topped 100,000 global registered investors. While based in Sweden, FundedByMe operates in multiple European countries and in Asia and has 6 different physical locations. FundedByMe said surpassing 100,000 investors was… Read More

November 13, 2017 @ 9:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Bitcoin phenomenon is not even ten years old and it is firmly established in the everyday lexicon. Measured in pennies when initially launched, Bitcoin recently topped $7000 before it pulled back.  Turnerlittle has shared some bullets on a research write up they recently completed… Read More

November 13, 2017 @ 8:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

OurCrowd, a leading global equity crowdfunding platform, has announced the appointment of Roland Wee as Managing Director of the company’s Asia operations. OurCrowd said that Wee will serve as a “key addition” to its management team to spearhead its continued growth and success in the… Read More

November 13, 2017 @ 2:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

StartEngine announced its intent to provide Initial Coin Offering services to small businesses seeking to leverage the new form of raising capital this past August. In October, StartEngine started accepting applications for companies looking to do a compliant ICO. Last week, StartEngine listed the first… Read More

November 13, 2017 @ 11:04 am By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding platform Downing Crowd has listed a £3.95 million offer for Warren Energy, a Norfolk-based renewable energy plant generating biogas. Julia Groves, Downing’s Head of Crowdfunding, said there is a lack of awareness regarding different types of crowdfunding. Crowd Bonds may be a lower risk… Read More

November 13, 2017 @ 8:04 am By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) and with SingEx Holdings, kick off the Singapore FinTech Festival today. This is the second edition of the week-long event that promises to provide a forum for the Fintech… Read More

November 13, 2017 @ 7:37 am By JD Alois  |  

Zilliqa, a high-throughput Blockchain platform developed at the National University of Singapore, has announced a partnership with FBG Capital, a digital asset management firm in blockchain-based capital market. As part of the agreement, FBG Capital will be investing into the project and Zhuo Shuoji, founding partner of… Read More

November 13, 2017 @ 6:52 am By JD Alois  |  

Racefields has announced that its debt trading platform RCX will now accept Bitcoin. Racefields is claiming a “world’s first” service as they will now open up debt sellers to the growing wealth of the Bitcoin community.   Both institutional and individual investors may now invest… Read More

November 13, 2017 @ 6:25 am By JD Alois  |  

  Alison Whistance, described as a finance expert, joins ThinCats as Origination Manager, South-West, as the peer to peer lender gears up for its next period of growth. Recently, ThinCats announced a £200 million funding program in conjunction with its parent company ESF Capital. Whistance… Read More

November 13, 2017 @ 6:14 am By JD Alois  |  

London-based Kuber Ventures, an alternative fund investment platform providing access to EIS/SEIS opportunities, has announced a commercial partnership with MICAP to provide independent due diligence and research on the funds that are currently available on the Kuber platform. The partnership is described as placing Kuber… Read More

November 12, 2017 @ 6:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

Groundfloor has filed a Form 1-A with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating its intent to sell shares in the real estate crowdfunding platform.  According to the offering circular, GroundFloor is offering up to 2.5 million in Common Stock at $10 per share. Interestingly, the Groundfloor… Read More

November 12, 2017 @ 3:19 pm By JD Alois  |  

There are now 34 FINRA approved crowdfunding platforms leveraging Title III of the JOBS Act, widely called Reg CF. The number of Reg CF portals is inching higher having added 5 approved platforms since this past summer (after revoking Ufundingportal ‘s certification). Under Reg CF an… Read More

November 12, 2017 @ 2:19 pm By JD Alois  |  

Cannabis or Marijuana is a huge industry. In the US today, it is split between the legal and not so legal market for the sale and consumption of Cannabis.  While the illegal Marijuana industry topped an estimated $46 billion in sales in the US during… Read More

November 11, 2017 @ 11:33 am By JD Alois  |  

FundedByMe announced another self-crowdfunding round last month to fuel platform growth in advance of a possible listing on an exchange. The crowdfunding platform is seeking  SEK 5 to 20 million (approximately €500,000 to €1.1 million) and launched live yesterday.  It appears that FundedByMe will have to raise… Read More

November 11, 2017 @ 11:08 am By JD Alois  |  

The House Financial Services Committee has been rather busy of late. The powerful Committee led by Chair Jeb Hensarling has been pushing through legislation at a brisk pace. Next Tuesday (November 14th), the Committee has over 20 bills to consider. One of the bills, HR… Read More

November 10, 2017 @ 3:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika delivered a speech this week that has the traditional banking industry up in arms.  Noreika made the heretical statement that competition is good for the banking industry inciting the wrath of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA),… Read More