Opinion

May 27, 2016 @ 11:40 am By Oscar Jofre  |  

FinTech is about to get an upgrade. In 2016, get ready to see GermTech – the entry and infectious spread of high potential German technological financing companies. With investments nearly quadrupling since 2013, seed funding expected to grow well into 2016, and a well-defined main… Read More

May 26, 2016 @ 12:30 pm By Amy Wan  |  

After being invited to file a brief to the Supreme Court, the Solicitor General’s Office filed a brief this past Tuesday, May 24, 2016 and weighed in on the Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC case. Or rather, by weighing in I mean they blatantly shot… Read More

May 25, 2016 @ 4:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

“Should the Commission consider doing away with the notion of a so-called “accredited investor” altogether?” The above question is posed not by this digital publication but by a sitting SEC Commissioner, Michael S. Piwowar. The Commissioner was speaking at the recent gathering of the Advisory… Read More

May 25, 2016 @ 1:35 pm By Amy Wan  |  

  We’re still trying to figure it out. That seemed to be the theme of the crowdfunding panel at OTC’s event yesterday morning in Santa Monica. BeautyKind CEO John Hilburn Davis, which began raising money earlier this year under a Reg A+ acknowledged road bumps…. Read More

May 25, 2016 @ 12:23 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

With the Federal Title III rules effective, there is certainly a lot of excitement surrounding national level “retail” crowdfunding to non-accredited investors. That’s obviously great news for the industry, but it’s important to remember that the majority of the states currently have some form of “intrastate”… Read More

May 24, 2016 @ 1:28 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Frost & Sullivan views Australia’s development as a leader in Fintech innovation will require concerted effort from government agencies and established financial institutions and will involve partnerships and research collaboration between banks and startups, presenting many diverse and lucrative growth and development opportunities for ICT… Read More

May 24, 2016 @ 12:22 pm By Adam Weinger  |  

As you probably know, crowdfunding websites are one of the most popular fundraising options for nonprofits and individuals alike. It makes total sense: crowdfunding enables a group of people–small, large, or in between–to collectively raise money for a specific cause or charity. Plus, crowdfunding is incredibly… Read More

May 24, 2016 @ 10:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Title III platforms launched last week on May 16th. Multiple platforms had received approval from FINRA/SEC and a good number of issuing companies queued up to offer equity or debt in their companies. While opinions in the media were mixed as to whether the Reg… Read More

May 23, 2016 @ 3:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

Title III crowdfunding kicked off a week ago today (May 16th).  The launch of retail crowdfunding took a long, circuitous route to realization with much discussion and debate along the way.  The platforms that are leveraging the new securities exemption believe it is a viable… Read More

May 22, 2016 @ 7:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Jon Medved, founder and CEO of OurCrowd – an accredited crowdfunding platform, spoke to CNBC last week and addressed the launch of Title III or Reg CF crowdfunding. Medved, never one to mince words, stated there are certain problems with Reg CF, as it stands… Read More

May 22, 2016 @ 11:38 am By JD Alois  |  

  Co-founded by CEO Emmanuel Marot, LendingRobot is a Fintech company that provides powerful tools for the smaller investor interested in investing in Lending Club, Prosper and Funding Circle loans. Peer to peer lending has morphed into marketplace lending as institutional money poured in. Meanwhile LendingRobot… Read More

May 20, 2016 @ 11:02 am By Erin Hobey  |  

  The crowdfunding regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) became effective on May 16, 2016, and the agency has issued Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (C&DIs) providing interpretive guidance on Regulation Crowdfunding. “It is encouraging to see the SEC being so proactive in issuing… Read More

May 20, 2016 @ 11:00 am By JD Alois  |  

    The SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies met yesterday at the SEC HQ on Capitol Hill. The main topic of discussion was the definition of an Accredited Investor. SEC Chair Mary Jo White was joined by her two remaining Commissioners, Michael… Read More

May 18, 2016 @ 5:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

Lending Club (NYSE:LC) will remember May as the month from Hell as the hits just keep on coming. Following the forced resignation of founder and CEO Renaud Laplanche on May 9th due to loan irregularities, Lending Club has received a series of bad news. From… Read More

May 18, 2016 @ 11:10 am By Therese Torris  |  

Crowdfunding is flourishing all around the world, exhibiting double or even triple digit growth rates in many markets, from the US to the UK to China. Governments have seen this boom as both an opportunity and a challenge. From 2012 on, they started responding by… Read More

May 17, 2016 @ 9:24 am By Amy Wan  |  

  Monday, May 16, 2016 is the first day that ordinary people—not just the super rich—will be able to invest in the next Uber or Snapchat. That’s because Title III of the JOBS Act, otherwise known as Regulation Crowdfunding or Reg CF, legalizes retail investment… Read More

May 17, 2016 @ 9:03 am By Erin Hobey  |  

With Title III regulations of the Jobs Act now in affect, FlashFunders saw the opportunity and officially relaunched as an equity crowdfunding platform. Now startups can now raise capital from the crowd, accredited, and global investors in a single round on the platform, offering crowd investment starting at $50.  The… Read More

May 16, 2016 @ 12:30 pm By Victoria Silchenko  |  

  “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” ― R. Buckminster They say, if Monday had a face, we all would like to punch it. But surely not today, Monday, May 16th, 2016, the day… Read More

May 16, 2016 @ 10:41 am By JD Alois  |  

As Title III / Reg CF crowdfunding rules kick in, opinions are varied as to how successful or not the new securities exemption will be. While more than a few industry insiders have pointed to the limitations of Reg CF and the over 600 pages… Read More

May 16, 2016 @ 8:36 am By Georgia Quinn  |  

Overview of the regulatory framework Although the Jumpstart Our Business Startups or JOBS Act was passed in April of 2012, the rules implementing Title III of that Act relating to retail investment crowdfunding have been a long time coming. They were finally promulgated on October… Read More