Opinion

May 16, 2017 @ 6:29 am By Erin Hobey  |  

“…crowdfunding is an incredible resource for independent artists and is a powerful way to maintain creative control of our work.” This time of year is filled with graduations and future plans for promising students, artists and songwriters.  Kickstarter covers an interesting earful of projects from songwriter students who… Read More

May 16, 2017 @ 2:37 am By Jonathan Nieh  |  

  Equity crowdfunding and credit unions are a match made in heaven, according to a recent article on Business News Daily. At the heart of equity crowdfunding is the goal of democratizing capital formation; allowing companies to raise money from online communities of investors who campaign… Read More

May 15, 2017 @ 11:00 am By Samuel Guzik  |  

With the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act having just reached its five year milestone, Regulation Crowdfunding hitting its one year milestone, and the two year anniversary of Regulation A(+) fast approaching, I thought this would be a good time to (briefly) reflect on the… Read More

May 14, 2017 @ 5:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this month I was running CNBC in the background and a commercial came up that caused me to pause. On the screen was a besuited old white male pitching the next great investment. Coming off a bit like a used-car salesman, I learned later… Read More

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

The New York Department of Financial Services has filed a lawsuit in US District Court in Manhattan against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The action was taken to challenge the OCC’s initiative to issue national Fintech Charters. Reuters reported the NYDFS legal… Read More

May 11, 2017 @ 5:52 am By JD Alois  |  

In his first appearance as the Chair of Securities and Exchange Commission, Jay Clayton delivered a brief statement to the members of the Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies (ACSEC).  At the meeting, which took place today (May 10, 2017), Clayton told all in… Read More

May 11, 2017 @ 4:58 am By Erin Hobey  |  

In honor of its seventh birthday, GoFundMe reached out seven of its top organizers for advice for running a great campaign. Here’s what they shared: 1. Push past the nervousness. “Take action on the things that make you afraid — it’s an opportunity for the biggest reward. ” Campaign… Read More

May 9, 2017 @ 11:00 am By Erin Hobey  |  

“Imagine if each person suffering from a mental illness or witnessing someone close to them struggling with mental health could do something about it. If dollar by dollar, we could come together as a community and spark a mental health revolution by supporting the science… Read More

May 9, 2017 @ 6:59 am By Jonathan Nieh  |  

Welcome to Part 1 of a series discussing the various ways an issuer can easily screw up their offering. In this part, we’ll be talking about general solicitation as it applies to Regulation D (Reg D) offerings. For those that are unaware, Reg D is, for… 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 @ 9:55 am By Jillian Sidoti  |  

  I want to be clear: I am not an investor in Elio Motors (OTCQX: ELIO). I did not participate in any manner with their offering under the new and improved Regulation A (also called Reg A+), and I did not promote it. I will… Read More

May 8, 2017 @ 8:21 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Last week Financial Innovation Now (FIN), an alliance of companies which includes Fintech behemoths innovator Amazon, Apple, Google, Intuit and PayPal, spoke out against language used in the Financial CHOICE Act that would repeal debit swipe fee reform. In a letter penned by FIN Executive Director Brian… 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 4, 2017 @ 4:23 pm By Jonathan Nieh  |  

Speaking on a panel at the 4th Annual CrowdfundingUSA Conference today, Sarah Hanks, CEO and Founder of CrowdCheck Inc., talked about some of the compliance issues facing Regulation CF issuers. Issuers Are Not Filing Annual Reports One of the biggest issues discussed was the ongoing reporting… Read More

May 4, 2017 @ 9:41 am By JD Alois  |  

Adena Friedman, CEO of NASDAQ, has published an Op-Ed on WSJ.com. Her topic of discussion is the challenging IPO market in the US. This is a frequent issue of debate as the decline of IPOs has been going on for years. Both elected and appointed… Read More

May 3, 2017 @ 3:06 pm By Therese Torris  |  

Since the beginning of this year, the German government has undertaken a review of the crowdinvesting regulation introduced in July 2015. It has now officially released its conclusions and is proposing several changes to the existing law, including a most controversial exclusion of real estate… Read More

May 2, 2017 @ 1:28 pm By Sherwood Neiss  |  

  Regulation Crowdfunding finished its fourth Calendar Quarter this past March and the data shows that women and minorities have a higher percent chance at hitting their minimum funding target but represent fewer campaigns and receive less capital. While the overall market is beginning to… Read More

April 28, 2017 @ 11:52 am By JD Alois  |  

“That ability to adapt and evolve to meet the changing needs of customers and the marketplace is as critical” Thomas Curry, the Comptroller of the Currency, delivered a speech today at Kellogg School of Management in Chicago. The speech comes at an interesting time as… Read More

April 28, 2017 @ 8:46 am By JD Alois  |  

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), a US organization of state bank regulators, filed a complaint against teh Comptroller of the Currency in the US district court of Columbia this week. The action was against the much debated Fintech Charter that was launched to… Read More

April 27, 2017 @ 5:46 pm By Ken Staut  |  

Regulation Crowdfunding is somewhere in the top half of the first inning of a nine-inning ballgame.  I’m not even sure the first batter has seen more than a pitch or two.  It will certainly be fascinating to see how the game develops.  I, for one,… Read More