Opinion

September 22, 2016 @ 2:32 pm By Joe Green & John Coyle  |  

Earlier this year, on May 16, 2016, the final portion of the JOBS Act became actionable. The much anticipated Title III provisions and Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) went into effect, marking the official beginning of retail crowdfunding in the United States. While the industry is… Read More

September 22, 2016 @ 2:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

Congressman Patrick McHenry, the Chief Deputy Whip of the House, has introduced new legislation designed to boost Fintech innovation in the US. Today, the US may be the financial center of the world but in some respects, the country is slipping behind when it comes… Read More

September 21, 2016 @ 12:19 pm By Bruce C. Rosetto and Rebecca G. DiStefano  |  

Jobs creation and wages are in the spotlight again by voter demand this presidential election year and receiving attention from both Republican and Democratic parties. This begs the question whether an improved version of Regulation A under the JOBs Act of 2012 offers a practical… Read More

September 20, 2016 @ 4:03 pm By JD Alois  |  

Everybody is doing it. Lloyds Banking Group, the august financial services firm and banking group with a heritage that dates back to 1765, is on the hunt for Fintech guru to help it manage and navigate the universe of Fintech. On their Careers page, Lloyds… Read More

September 20, 2016 @ 11:02 am By JD Alois  |  

The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA), has criticized Canada’s regulatory approach to crowdfunding in a public letter sent to the Alberta Securities Commission and Superintendent of Securities, Nunavut.  While the letter is addressed to the two entities it can be viewed as a proxy… Read More

September 19, 2016 @ 9:21 am By Moshe Hecht  |  

We don’t do crowdfunding. I can’t tell you how often I hear these words, spoken with such confidence, by the head of a major non-profit. I’ve come to realize there are many reasons for this initial hesitation, and it’s a combination of many things, but… Read More

September 16, 2016 @ 1:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

File this one under recently discovered, but the European Commission published a report earlier this year that pretty much crushed any hope for a more synchronized approach for debt and equity crowdfunding across Europe. As highlighted in the editorial by Alessandro Lerro earlier this week,… Read More

September 15, 2016 @ 11:33 pm By Georgia Quinn  |  

  When I realized the 2016 AltFi Conference was at the posh Pierre Hotel on the corner of Central Park, it immediately gave me pause. I remembered 2007 and 2008 when certain mortgage-backed security investment conferences were held at such addresses. Also, is the storied… Read More

September 14, 2016 @ 4:15 pm By Alessandro M. Lerro  |  

At Crowddialogue Europe in Graz, Austria last week, a panel presentation, moderated by Ronald Kleverlaan, inquired about the status of the European legislation on crowd-investing. Looking back to 2014, with the EU Commission’s Communication “Unleashing the Potential of Crowdfunding”, soon followed by the 2015 Communication “Action Plan… Read More

September 11, 2016 @ 12:57 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

Now I don’t usually use this forum to discuss particular crowdfunding offerings. However, after seeing a recent MSNBC piece on DSTLD, and their current Regulation A+ equity offering, I simply had to highlight their truly model story. I believe many wannabe Reg A+ issuers could… Read More

September 9, 2016 @ 6:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

“It is hardly possible to overrate the value…of placing human beings in contact with persons dissimilar to themselves, and with modes of thought and action unlike those with which they are familiar…such communication has always been…one of the primary sources of progress.” –John Stuart Mill… Read More

September 9, 2016 @ 12:30 pm By Youngro Lee  |  

“So why did you leave law to pursue crowdfunding?” Over the past couple years, I’ve received this question more than any other.  Prior to starting NextSeed in 2014, I was a lawyer for over 7 years specializing in private equity fund formation and private investments. … Read More

September 8, 2016 @ 12:00 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

In connection with a private offering of securities the issuer will provide potential investors with some form of disclosure document. Regardless of what type of offering it is (e.g. Rule 506, Title III, Intrastate, or other private offering), the intent of this disclosure document is… Read More

September 3, 2016 @ 4:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis replaced Jonathan Hill of the UK at the Commission following the Brexit decision. He recently sat down with CNBC for an interesting interview where he shared some insight into his perspective on the Capital Markets Union (CMU) in light of the UK EU… Read More

August 31, 2016 @ 4:09 pm By Spencer Li  |  

After nearly eight months since the original draft was first issued, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (“CBRC”) announced the official rules for the online lending industry on August 24, 2016. The unveiling came accompanied with a few policy curveballs that few industry participants were expecting…. Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 4:43 pm By Oleg Seydak  |  

In recent weeks, marketplace lenders have hit a rough patch. Once the darlings of Wall Street, they have now come under fire, after a string of internal scandals and disappointing earnings. For the traditional banks – who have been saying, “we need to disrupt these… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 9:04 am By Jason Best  |  

As any entrepreneur knows, when you are creating something new, there are no shortage of naysayers.  Among the 3 types of clients we work with (investors, corporates and financial regulators) the regulators tend to look at new things most skeptically.  But, of the many questions… Read More

August 28, 2016 @ 5:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

Steven Dresner of Dealflow.com is one of the regular suspects in the online capital formation sector.  He has been an active voice and participant in the shift to leverage the power of the internet to make capital formation more efficient. Working with broker-dealers and other… Read More

August 26, 2016 @ 3:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this week, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for President of the United States, released a “Factsheet” on small business.  Interestingly it contained a good bit of affirmation that she will not turn her back on small business recognizing SMEs are the lifeblood of the… Read More

August 25, 2016 @ 3:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

Publishing on the pages of American Banker, Todd Baker has written off the entire industry of marketplace lending. Baker states, “it should be obvious now that marketplace lending is unsustainable.” A pretty strong statement for a sector of alternative finance that has, until recently, experienced… Read More