June 21, 2017 @ 10:01 pm By Therese Torris  |  

  The German real estate crowdfunding market is set to more than triple in size this year. Real estate developers, asset managers, and, most recently, real estate agents are joining the fray of real estate crowdfunding platforms, trying to unseat the handful of leaders who… Read More

June 20, 2017 @ 10:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

VentureCrowd is a multi-asset crowdfunding platform providing early stage, property and “crowd credit” funding in Australia. Currently, VentureCrowd only caters to sophisticated or high net worth individuals.  Each early stage investment listed on its platform has already secured a professional lead investor thus allowing a smaller… Read More

June 19, 2017 @ 6:22 pm By Timothy Li  |  

During July 2016, I was part of a delegation of US Fintech executives visiting our counterparts in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Shanghai, China. We toured and visited some of the most exciting Fintech platforms in China such as LuFax, CreditEase, Tencent (the creator of WeChat),… Read More

June 18, 2017 @ 9:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

About a year ago, Crowdfund Insider connected with Julian Kwan, CEO and co-founder of Investacrowd, a real estate crowdfunding platform that was established in Singapore. Kwan was born in Australia but has spent the last 17 years in Asia – most recently Singapore. Having founded… Read More

June 17, 2017 @ 5:00 pm By Xu Gao  |  

China Issues a Five-Year plan on Fintech Facing the challenges from the online finance industry, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and four other departments including the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) and Standardization Administration… Read More

June 16, 2017 @ 4:47 pm By Therese Torris  |  

Yesterday the President of France, Emmanuel Macron received a standing ovation from an audience of tech startups and large businesses at Viva Technology. He spoke of France as a startup nation embracing hyper-innovation, of a revolution, a complete change of mindset. He shared his vision… Read More

June 15, 2017 @ 5:48 pm By Scott Purcell  |  

  At a lightly attended alternative finance conference last month, Dr. Richard Swart spoke about the anaemic growth of the US crowdfunding industry. He made the point that we (industry participants including portals, broker-dealers, escrow banks & trusts, transfer agents, investor accreditation services, accountants, lawyers,… Read More

June 14, 2017 @ 5:31 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School has launched its third European benchmarking survey and the second survey for Africa and the Middle East. The two separate research initiatives will review the emerging alternative finance markets in each… Read More

June 13, 2017 @ 12:30 pm By Therese Torris  |  

This article highlights three takeaways for Fintech firms from Mary Meeker’s 355-page-long report: 1) The Internet’s center of gravity shifts to Asia; 2) The biggest get bigger; 3) Fintechs must use gamification to improve customer engagement. Since 2001, Mary Meeker, a Partner at venture capital… Read More

June 12, 2017 @ 11:59 am By Therese Torris  |  

Where do you apply for a student loan if, like 29-year old Amit, you are an Indian engineer in his first job in London who has just been accepted at a business school in France? With no credit history, no local co-signer and no knowledge… Read More

June 11, 2017 @ 10:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) is out with a report on the evolving Fintech sector and the authors are prodding regulators to work more closely together in a regional approach. ASIFMA is based in Hong Kong and while Hong Kong is… Read More

June 10, 2017 @ 4:00 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum (2017) convened in Beijing On June 3, 2017 Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum, which was hosted by Tsinghua University, and organized jointly by the Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance (PBCSF) and Tsinghua University National Institute of Financial Research (NIFR),… Read More

June 9, 2017 @ 5:16 pm By Duncan Keene  |  

Traditional banking is facing tough times ahead. It’s easy to see why. The UK has lost 40% of its banks and building societies since 1989, considering usage of online banking has more doubled since 2007. After all, who wants to queue for an hour to see… Read More

June 8, 2017 @ 9:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced today that it had originated over $3 billion in loans to more than 20,000 small businesses since 2011. One billion of those loans came in the past 12 months. Peyush Nahar, VP for Amazon Marketplace, released a statement on the milestone; “We… Read More

June 8, 2017 @ 3:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

Some crowdfunding platforms are accepting money from international investors. First, to clarify, is is allowable under US regulations but there are caveats to the rules. In the US, there are three different securities exemptions where you can publicly promote your offerings online: Reg D (506c),… Read More

June 8, 2017 @ 1:25 am By Jonathan Nieh  |  

According to a recent article on Trustnodes, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore’s central bank, has successfully digitized their national currency by a creating a token out of the Singapore dollar on Ethereum’s blockchain technology. Phase 1 Complete Last November, MAS announced Project Ubin: a… Read More

June 7, 2017 @ 12:10 pm By Therese Torris  |  

Big consultancies, such as PwC, Cap Gemini, KPMG, Deloitte and Accenture, research and analyze fintech developments to support the digital transformation of their banking customers. They promote this work through well-crafted free reports and white papers. The latest of such reports was published by Julian… Read More

June 6, 2017 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

SeedInvest Announces Live Crowdfunding to take place at eMERGE Americas Several weeks back, Jason Calacanis held his annual LAUNCH Festival in San Francisco. As part of the event, live crowdfunding was added to the program for the first time. In February, SeedInvest had announced it… Read More

June 5, 2017 @ 9:25 am By Joshua G. Hamilton, James H. Moon & Bret M. Geckeler  |  

Crowdfunding regulations were enacted with the goal of providing small businesses access to capital without imposing arduous registration and disclosure burdens.[i]  In that regard, the regulations have shown significant promise. Commentators have rightfully highlighted the substantial benefits to both issuers and investors based on their… Read More

June 4, 2017 @ 8:32 pm By Soren Godbersen  |  

In recent years, a growing number of online platforms have begun to offer direct investments in residential properties, allowing individual investors to access this asset class much more readily and at lower minimums. Some platforms offer investments in apartment buildings (multifamily properties, in industry lingo),… Read More