Opinion

October 20, 2016 @ 10:51 pm By Marc Snover  |  

I have been immersed in the equity crowdfunding industry since late 2015 and have tried to collect as many different perspectives on the industry from as many experts as possible. And while it is hard to predict the ultimate fate of an industry that had… Read More

October 20, 2016 @ 5:13 am By Erin Hobey  |  

US online lenders have quickly seized opportunities to meet demand for more targeted, easy-to-access digital financial services; however, inherent weakness in the online lender business model will likely limit it to a small segment of the market, Moody’s Investors Service says in a report only… Read More

October 19, 2016 @ 7:28 pm By Samuel Guzik  |  

Still Time to Fix the Fix Crowdfunding Act One of the cardinal rules of investing is  diversification – a critical ingredient for long-term portfolio growth.  This rule applies with equal, if not greater, force when investing in “Title III Regulation CF Crowdfunding” securities – open… Read More

October 19, 2016 @ 7:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

Christian Catalini, a Professor at MIT Sloan School of Managment and one of the leading academics in the crowdfunding sector, recently published a new video sharing his views on the emerging investment crowdfunding sector. Catalini has long followed both the rewards iteration and accredited crowdfunding under… Read More

October 18, 2016 @ 10:15 pm By Therese Torris  |  

LendIt Europe gathered over 900 attendees from 50 countries on the banks of the Thames river to network and hear about the latest trends in online direct lending. The tone of the conference was clearly set by the UK keynote speakers. The UK being 4… Read More

October 17, 2016 @ 11:21 am By Georgia Quinn  |  

Let me begin by saying god bless Congressman Patrick McHenry. He is out there on the front lines actually trying to make a difference and help entrepreneurs and small businesses get off the ground and succeed. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, and a… Read More

October 14, 2016 @ 10:52 am By JD Alois  |  

Senator Elizabeth Warren is rattling cages once again. This time, she is blasting SEC Chair Mary Jo White asking President Obama to fire or demote Chair White in a public letter. According to her letter, Warren states, “enough is enough” that Chair White has undermined… Read More

October 13, 2016 @ 10:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

Reg CF investment crowdfunding (Title III of the JOBS Act) has only been actionable since May of this year. At the end of May, there were 10 FINRA/SEC approved Regulation CF platforms with only a handful listing live investment opportunities. The approved platforms at the… Read More

October 12, 2016 @ 10:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ruth Hedges is from the early days of crowdfunding in the United States. Part of an original group of committed individuals who advocated on behalf of updating antiquated securities regulations, Hedges is a founding member of the Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates (CFIRA); the group originally… Read More

October 11, 2016 @ 10:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

  The answer is keep it simple, and  keep it transparent. The above statement came from Lord Adair Turner in a speech delivered at LendIt Europe this week. He was reflecting upon how peer to peer lending can avoid situations of systemic risk as exemplified… Read More

October 11, 2016 @ 12:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Consumer and Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been labeled “unconstitutional” by a federal appeals court.  The ruling addressed specifically the agency’s structure and the amount of control exercised by its director – currently Richard Cordray.  The ruling allows for the CFPB to continue to… Read More

October 11, 2016 @ 12:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

Lord Adair, the former FSA Chair and longtime banker, sideswiped the UK online lending industry last year during an interview on BBC.  Adair criticized the peer to peer lending industry in a blistering statement regarding disruptive online lenders; “The losses which will emerge from peer-to-peer… Read More

October 10, 2016 @ 11:25 pm By Pawee Jenneeranon  |  

The Peer-to-Peer Lending Industry in Thailand Peer-to-peer lending, which is also known as social lending or crowdlending, has drastically increased in the recent years in many countries around the world. The total volume of peer-to-peer lending activities has been growing rapidly. A good example is… Read More

October 6, 2016 @ 4:00 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

While I have kept both my statutory summary pages and comparative summaries relatively up to date, it has been quite a while since I have done an editorial update on Intrastate Crowdfunding. With the increased number of active Intrastate regulations, as well as the growing… Read More

October 1, 2016 @ 3:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

Brian Korn, a prominent attorney in the alternative finance sector, says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is on the offensive. Korn pointed to recent settlements with LendUp and CashCall as indicative of its aggressive approach towards financial service enforcement. At the end of 2013,… Read More

September 29, 2016 @ 6:44 pm By Luke Davis  |  

There is no question that the proliferation of various forms of alternative finance has proven vital for Britain’s scaling businesses attempting to secure growth funding. In the UK, the alternative finance industry traded a staggering £3.2 billion worth of business in 2015, an increase of 84%… Read More

September 27, 2016 @ 12:01 pm By Amy Wan  |  

This article is a response to the draft paper referenced in the article entitled “Crowdfunding and the Not-So-Safe SAFE” authored by Joseph M. Green and John F. Coyle. There are many so words to describe my thoughts about the paper: patronizing, impractical, misguided—but mostly, unfortunate. One… Read More

September 27, 2016 @ 8:09 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Beyond Bank Australia has announced its equity stake in SocietyOne, reported Australian Broker, having acquired A$1.5 million worth of shares in marketplace lender, as well as agreeing to increase its funding arrangement to A$10M. Earlier this year, SocietyOne raised A$25M capital from traditional financial firms G&C Mutual Bank and the Maritime, Mining… Read More

September 26, 2016 @ 3:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Orchard platform in their weekly report addressed the most recent ABS East conference – a hot Wall Street gathering on all things securitization. This year opening remarks were delivered by Steve Eisman who was made famous by his depiction in the Hollywood film the Big… Read More

September 24, 2016 @ 6:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fundera is an online platform that streamlines the borrowing process. They have integrated a diverse group of online lenders to allow small businesses the ability to apply on one site and receive offers from multiple direct lenders. No more trudging down to the local bank… Read More