September 22, 2017 @ 12:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

Premium hotel group Falkensteiner Hotels & Residences is using an alternative finance platform to raise capital as part of an expansion plan. The Austrian company has listed an investment offer on Finnest.com to allow its guests to become investors. The award-winning hotel group operates 32… Read More

September 22, 2017 @ 9:37 am By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this week, the Sunday Times reported that the UK government was examining plans to “clamp down” on the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). This program is a tax exemption that seeks to incentivize investment in early stage companies – an intrinsically risky endeavor. By providing… Read More

September 22, 2017 @ 9:20 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Capital Cell, a crowdfunding platform dedicated to life sciences, announced this week it is officially opening its portal to UK investors. The first four investment opportunities now live on the platform. As previously reported, Capital Cell was founded by Daniel Oliver and based in Barcelona, is the first… Read More

September 21, 2017 @ 9:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

Report Highlights Central Bank Experimentation with Distributed Ledger Technology. The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) is out with their first Global Blockchain Benchmarking Study authored by Dr. Garrick Hileman and Michel Rauchs. The publication incorporates non-public data and states that 57% of surveyed central banks… Read More

September 21, 2017 @ 1:34 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

The Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA) and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) announced the completion of a framework for cooperation to promote innovation in financial services in Japan and ADGM. This Cooperation Framework recognizes the global nature of… Read More

September 21, 2017 @ 12:46 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

iCapital Network, a fintech platform democratizing alternative investments for high-net-worth individuals and their advisors, has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire the US Private Equity Access Fund Platform from the Asset Management division of Deutsche Bank. “We see this deal as an important… Read More

September 21, 2017 @ 12:22 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

WorldRemit, a digital money transfer company, has launched in Malaysia following the company’s acceptance as one of only four initial entrants into Bank Negara’s Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox in June.  Ridzuan Aziz, a senior Malaysian business leader with experience in compliance advisory and fintech, has… Read More

September 21, 2017 @ 12:02 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Creative robotics pioneer Joto has linked with  Crowdcube to raise £250,000 with a 12.2% equity stake offered to investors. Since going live this morning, over 100 investors have poised Joto to easily exceed £60K by EOD. Valued at £1,800,000, Joto is using this funding round to enable… Read More

September 21, 2017 @ 10:34 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, Denmark-based blockchain company OpenLedger announced it has teamed up with MVP Asia Pacific to launch a new blockchain program, OpenLedger MVP Blockchain Innovation. The program is offered to universities worldwide and will have accredited blockchain-based courses and program. The companies explained: “Since cryptocurrencies such… Read More

September 21, 2017 @ 10:31 am By JD Alois  |  

Fintech Bridge is Topic of Focus The UK government will host a “GREAT Festival of Innovation” in Hong Kong to showcase UK innovation and technology to the world. The announcement was shared by International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox today. Total bilateral trade between the UK… Read More

September 21, 2017 @ 8:54 am By JD Alois  |  

China is the biggest kid on the block when it comes to the emerging alternative finance market in the Asia Pacific region. In fact, China has the largest alternative finance market in the world driven by a fast growing economy, a highly connected population via… Read More

September 21, 2017 @ 7:28 am By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has entered into a co-operation agreement with the Hong Kong Insurance Authority (IA) designed to enhance collaboration in supporting Fintech innovation.  The FCA explains the agreement includes information sharing and mutual referrals of Fintech firms looking to enter into either… Read More

September 21, 2017 @ 6:48 am By JD Alois  |  

A new online platform, the Racefields Credit Exchange (RCX), has launched this week with the goal of becoming the PayPal of the loan bridging industry in a market they believe is underserved. The  RCX platform is said to be the first of its kind in… Read More

September 20, 2017 @ 9:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has just released guidance for public companies and crowdfunding platform operators to support them in using the new “crowd-sourced funding (CSF)” regime. The updated rules kick off on 29 September 2017. While rules only apply to public companies,… Read More

September 20, 2017 @ 11:52 am By JD Alois  |  

  Raisin GmbH is growing rapidly and today the “European Deposit Marketplace” is moving into the UK with the acquisition of PBF Solutions. The company’s intent is to give UK savers a better choice for saving their money with their Fintech platform. Raisin GmbH has… Read More

September 20, 2017 @ 10:52 am By JD Alois  |  

There are more than a few investment crowdfunding offers that are based only on a photo shop concept paired with outlandish valuations. Some of these will successfully raise money but investors are pretty much guaranteed to be aggressively diluted – if the company moves beyond… Read More

September 20, 2017 @ 9:18 am By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has created an international advisory panel for cyber security – launched in recognition of the shifting environment of financial services as increasingly all services are moving online. The newly formed panel is comprised of cyber security thought leaders from… Read More

September 20, 2017 @ 8:22 am By JD Alois  |  

The House Crowd, a UK property crowdfunding platform, is reporting “record levels of investor confidence”. According to the platform, the House Crowd is experiencing high demand for its property-backed peer-to-peer lending products, with over 1,270 people having invested in one. The House Crowd states that… Read More

September 20, 2017 @ 7:53 am By JD Alois  |  

Crowdcube, the UK’s largest equity crowdfunding platform, and US based SeedInvest have officially announced a formal arrangement to provide cross border investment crowdfunding. The deal was tipped a few days ago when Keen Home, an American company that is crowdfunding on SeedInvest – popped up… Read More

September 20, 2017 @ 3:00 am By JD Alois  |  

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) is out with their 2nd annual report quantifying the growth of alternative finance for the Asia Pacific Region in 2016. Entitled, “Cultivating Growth,” the benchmarking report shows an emerging industry that grew dramatically versus year prior as it… Read More