May 10, 2017 @ 8:27 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) posted an Investor Bulletin yesterday (May 9) addressing the utilization of “Simple Agreement for Future Equity” commonly referred to as SAFEs. These securities are frequently utilized in equity crowdfunding offers, specifically under the Reg CF exemption. The Bulletin, from… Read More

May 9, 2017 @ 4:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last month ABC affiliate KTSB located in Shreveport, Louisiana, reported that State Representative Cedric Glover wanted an investigation into how Elio Motors ended up gaining use of Shreveport, Louisiana’s former GM Plant. The deal allegedly caused two major potential tenants to be pushed out of a possibly… Read More

May 9, 2017 @ 4:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

William H. Hinman has been selected as the new director of the Security and Exchange’s Division of Corporation Finance. Hinman recently retired at the law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett in Silicon Valley. The SEC said that Hinman has been a recognized leader in… Read More

May 9, 2017 @ 1:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a former employee with securities fraud in connection with trading of options and other securities. The SEC alleges that David R. Humphrey, who worked at the SEC from 1998 to 2014, concealed his personal trading from the… Read More

May 9, 2017 @ 12:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

SAFEs or “Simple Agreement for Future Equity” is a widely utilized security in the investment crowdfunding space. A SAFE is more of an option to invest in a company than anything else. It was created by Y Combinator in 2013 as a founder friendly method… Read More

May 9, 2017 @ 12:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Alipay, part of internet conglomerate Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), has launched its payments platform in the US thus challenging other established players in the space such as Apple Pay. Alipay is partnering with First Data (NYSE:FDC) on the US expansion. Frank Bisignano, Chairman and CEO, First Data,… Read More

May 9, 2017 @ 11:35 am By JD Alois  |  

Innovate Finance has published a report today on industry sandboxes in the Fintech startup community. Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO of Innovate Finance and Chair of the report, commented; “Industry Sandboxes offer new opportunities for the financial services sector to accelerate the use of shared knowledge, data… Read More

May 9, 2017 @ 8:31 am By JD Alois  |  

The budget announcement by Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison includes a big boost for Fintech. Multiple areas of improvement in the innovative financial sector include, open financial data reforms, reduced barriers for banking licences, an expanded regulatory sandbox and digital currency tax cuts. Morrison also used… Read More

May 9, 2017 @ 8:06 am By JD Alois  |  

The Australian government is out with a statement today indicating its intent to position Australia as a global Fintech hub. The announcement was made by Scott Morrison, MP, Treasurer of Australia, and incorporated into the budget announcement. The statement was part of a broader mission… Read More

May 9, 2017 @ 7:26 am By JD Alois  |  

The government of Australia has announced an inquiry into the state of competition in the financial system. The initiative was announced by Treasurer Scott Morrison, MP.  Morrison said the Australian government was committed to ensuring the country’s financial system was innovative and fostered competition. Morrison… Read More

May 8, 2017 @ 8:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK), a leading online lender targeting small business, published Q1 results today. While the lending platform reported and increase of loans under management to $1.2 billion, a 25% increase versus prior year, the news was not good enough to boost shares in the… Read More

May 8, 2017 @ 3:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Choice Act is a valiant effort to address the profound shortcomings of the Dodd-Frank law. Dodd-Frank has been lambasted as regulatory overreach driven by politicians that really don’t quite understand what they are doing. At worst, Dodd-Frank has institutionalized too big to fail…. Read More

May 8, 2017 @ 12:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Do you remember the Ezubao Ponzi scheme that ended in the single largest peer to peer lending fraud of all time? Investors, saw approximately 50 billion CNY or about USD $7.2 billion flushed down the tube. Reportedly 900,000 investors were impacted as an astounding 95%… Read More

May 8, 2017 @ 7:11 am By JD Alois  |  

OurCrowd, a leading global equity crowdfunding platform, has appointed Andy Kaye as President and Chief Institutional Officer. OurCrowd states that Kaye will work closely with founder and CEO Jon Medved at OurCrowd’s Jerusalem headquarters to build upon the rapid growth of the firm. Medved said… Read More

May 7, 2017 @ 10:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, also known as “Mr. Wonderful” to some, is a fan of Fintech. O’Leary is sharing the love by delivering the Keynote address at the upcoming Benzinga Fintech Awards scheduled to take place this coming Thursday in New York City (May… Read More

May 7, 2017 @ 2:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Islamic Fintech Alliance (IFT Alliance) has published its inaugural report on the emerging Fintech sector for the Muslim community. According to Umar Munshi, the Chair of the IFT Alliance; “The Islamic Fintech Alliance seeks to actively engage the stakeholders of the Islamic Economy to… Read More

May 6, 2017 @ 10:24 am By JD Alois  |  

  A couple of weeks back we received a tip from a CI reader informing us that the InGen Dynamics Aido Robot offer had been unceremoniously yanked from equity crowdfunding platform, StartEngine. Not a good sign. StartEngine is perhaps best known for crowdfunding Elio Motors… Read More

May 5, 2017 @ 5:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published the agenda for the May 10 meeting of its Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies (ACSEC). At this meeting, ACSEC will discuss the underwriting of small offerings and will receive updates from SEC staff about the… Read More

May 5, 2017 @ 12:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), will release their anticipated Americas Alternative Finance Survey at an event hosted by CME Group on May 25.  The data is anticipated to definitively reveal the status and growth of… Read More

May 5, 2017 @ 11:14 am By JD Alois  |  

Last we revisited the Glentham Capital saga, reports were being circulated that the Seedrs funded project had reached an agreement with CEO Jeff Lynn. This came following a statement in the Times that Seedrs had threatened to sue founder Nicola Horlick on behalf of the… Read More