December 21, 2016 @ 1:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Total US revolving debt (think credit cards and more) is nearing $1 trillion. This sector of credit is growing rapidly at around 7% a year. Simultaneously, there is an emerging generation of consumers that is highly mobile, technologically savvy, and extremely skeptical of traditional financial… Read More

December 21, 2016 @ 12:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fundrise has morphed from a single property crowdfunding platform to a diversified real estate investment marketplace with the launch of their eREIT offerings. Fundrise has gone back to their Reg A roots by leveraging the updated securities exemption allowing any investor the option to purchase… Read More

December 21, 2016 @ 11:49 am By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is an important aspect of investor protection in the UK.  Similar in function to the US FDIC, certain financial accounts are insured by the government against financial loss. During the past two years, the FSCS paid out £271 million… Read More

December 21, 2016 @ 7:56 am By JD Alois  |  

Lemon Way Claims Valuation of €65 Million French Fintech firm Lemon Way says it is continuing to experience “spectacular growth” announcing that it will exceed €900 million of flows processed (inbound and outbound) during 2016, compared with €344 million in 2015 and €113 million in… Read More

December 21, 2016 @ 6:41 am By JD Alois  |  

  RateSetter, a leading UK peer to peer lending platform, has completed the sale of £2.1 million of non-performing debt. RateSetter sold the assets t 1st Credit, a debt purchaser.  Exact terms of the transaction were not revealed but RateSetter said it was the first… Read More

December 20, 2016 @ 1:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

Online lender for short-term property finance LendInvest, will launch a new auction finance product to help brokers and borrowers prepare for the forthcoming 2017 auctions. The auction finance product is designed for borrowers that need their deals to be fast-tracked by their lender. Matthew Tooth,… Read More

December 20, 2016 @ 12:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

KPMG, along with AltFi data, has published a new report on alternative lending in Europe. KPMG also sourced data from the most recent Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance report. The document, entitled Alternative Lending Market Trends in Continental Europe 2016, provides an interesting snapshot of… Read More

December 20, 2016 @ 9:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Two Year Patent Troll Case Ends in Triumph as Gust Refuses to Settle in “Giant Win” for Crowdfunding Industry. Gust, the “world’s largest community of entrepreneurs and early-stage investors”, has won a huge victory in court that impacts the entire crowdfunding industry. Today Gust announced the… Read More

December 19, 2016 @ 3:54 pm By JD Alois  |  

Online real estate management firm, HomeUnion, has published a list of single-family rental (SFR) rental markets in the US that pinpoints the highest growth markets. According to their data, Seattle tops the list, with house rent growth of 6.7 percent.  On the other end of the… Read More

December 19, 2016 @ 1:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding Beat Media has announced its intent to host multiple crowdfunding focused events during 2017.  Crowdfunding Beat will kick off with an event in New York City this coming January 24th with the “State of Investing and Risk Mitigation through Crowdfunding” and then continue with conferences… Read More

December 19, 2016 @ 9:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Assetz Capital is reporting that it has lent approximately £105 million in 2016.   The peer to peer lender is not claiming the title of the UK’s 3rd largest P2P lender for SMEs. Founded in 2013, Assetz Capital says it is now the UK’s fastest… Read More

December 18, 2016 @ 6:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

During the past 15 years, the number of emerging growth companies entering the capital markets through IPOs has plummeted relative to historical norms. This trend has transcended economic cycles during that period and has hobbled U.S. job creation. In fact, by one estimate, the decline… Read More

December 18, 2016 @ 8:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Fitch shared last week its intent to rate SoFi’s RMBS transaction that included 270 loans with a total balance of approximately $168.79 million. The group of loans consists of prime fixed-rate mortgages originated on the SoFi online lending platform. The presale report was pretty positive… Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 5:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

There will soon be a new office at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Today, President Barack Obama signed into law HR 3784 or the SEC Small Business Advocate Act of 2016.  The legislation passed the Senate without amendment late last week (December 9, 2016). The… Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 5:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

OFF3R, an alternative investment aggregator in the UK, has put together an interesting list of the top investment crowdfunding campaigns for 2017. We have replicated the OFF3R list below (with a few adjustments). Several of these companies have raised capital crowdfunding several times. Landbay has… Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 11:28 am By JD Alois  |  

The trial against Ezubao, once a high-flying peer to peer lending platform, has commenced.  The Beijing People’s Protectorate has started proceedings against Ezubao and its parent company Yucheng Holdings and Yucheng Global.  This is according to a report in China News. Apparently, 10 individuals will… Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 8:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Grupo DiR, one of the first established Spanish established companies to use investment crowdfunding, has closed a €450,000 investment round through the crowdfunding platform Crowdcube Spain. The additional capital will be used  to fund its twentieth club, DiR Mallorca, which will open in the first quarter… Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 7:58 am By JD Alois  |  

Lending Club (NYSE:LC) filed an 8K yesterday indicating that Chief Technology Officer John MacIlwaine had submitted his resignation on December 15th. MacIlwaine decided to depart from Lending Club to pursue another opportunity.  Lending Club stated that Richard Southwick, Senior Vice President for Technology, will oversee… Read More

December 15, 2016 @ 4:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

Regulation A, or Reg A+ as everyone now calls it, has been heralded as the future of small IPOs by some. The updated securities exemption was created by Title IV of the JOBS Act and came into effect during 2015. Allowing smaller companies to raise… Read More

December 15, 2016 @ 7:03 am By JD Alois  |  

The Money Platform has launched in the UK.  The Money Platform is a peer to peer lender that targets short term credit of 3 to 12 weeks. After participating in the FCA’s Project Innovate incubator program, the Money Platform received the FCA’s full consumer credit… Read More