Opinion

January 22, 2016 @ 11:02 am By Federica Sabbatini and Luca Scali  |  

  An Update on How Close We Are to Getting Back on Track. Hub21 is a venture accelerator based in Ascoli Piceno (Marche Region in Italy), whose mission is to incubate startups, with Go-to-Market, fundraising, management support and its own strategic observatory over digital startups…. Read More

January 21, 2016 @ 8:19 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ben Miller, co-founder of real estate crowdfunding platform Fundrise, has published a missive addressing some investor inquiries. In an annual letter to investors, Miller explains the side effect of high standards during a hot real estate market. Miller states the most frequent question he receives… Read More

January 21, 2016 @ 7:51 pm By Barry James  |  

A recent Juniper report suggested that the failure of the Zano campaign was a game-changer, signalling a move away from Kickstarter-style reward crowdfunding toward an equity (and mixed) model. Given the regulatory costs and other issues this is naive at best. Apart from the fact that… Read More

January 21, 2016 @ 7:42 am By JD Alois  |  

The Investor Advisory Committee is scheduled to convene today at the SEC headquarters in Washington, DC.  The agenda in the afternoon (on the schedule for 2PM) includes an update on crowdfunding rules. The presentation on investment crowdfunding includes the participation of two well known industry… Read More

January 20, 2016 @ 8:00 am By Anthony Zeoli  |  

  As you may be aware, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently considering sweeping changes to some of the most long-standing rules and regulations governing private transactions. These changes include fundamental revisions of both Rule 501, the definition of “accredited investor” and arguably… Read More

January 19, 2016 @ 9:42 am By JD Alois  |  

iFunding, one of the earlier entrants into the real estate crowdfunding sector, has started the New Year on a bit of a sour note. In an article published in the Real Deal (TRD), it was revealed that iFunding had been sued this past December by… Read More

January 18, 2016 @ 11:12 am By JD Alois  |  

A bill has been weaving its way through the Congressional process and it is one that is due in large part to Crowdfund Insider Senior Contributor Sam Guzik.  HR 3784 was introduced into the House Financial Services Committee in October of last year. It received… Read More

January 18, 2016 @ 6:00 am By Spencer Li  |  

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (“CBRC”) issued the highly anticipated draft rules for online lending on December 28, 2015. Ever since the State Council guidelines (“the Guidelines”) for the Chinese internet finance industry were issued in July, rumors about the timing of the online lending… Read More

January 16, 2016 @ 7:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

The CEO of the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC), Ian Russell, called on provincial regulators to “scrap equity crowdfunding”.  Russell, it appears, is not enthusiastic about the financial innovation.  On the digital pages of the Financial Post, and on the IIAC blog, Russell claimed;… Read More

January 15, 2016 @ 1:03 pm By JD Alois  |  

There is a mandate under Dodd-Frank to review the definition of an “Accredited Investor” on a rolling basis.  As it stands today, Accredited Investors are individuals with incomes over $200,000 per year or $1 million in assets beyond a person’s primary residence. If you are… Read More

January 15, 2016 @ 10:03 am By JD Alois  |  

The Innovative Finance ISA is a huge opportunity for the peer to peer lending industry.  Yet the introduction of the new ISA also highlights an ongoing issue for P2P platforms: The profound need to inform and educate potential investors and advisors of their services. Sure… Read More

January 13, 2016 @ 1:30 pm By Ron Miller  |  

  With equity crowdfunding poised to take off in 2016 with the recent additions of Regulation A+ and the final rules of Title III, Reg CF, I have compiled a list of predictions for the coming year. The internet has facilitated profound efficiencies in many… Read More

January 11, 2016 @ 6:00 am By Kiran Lingam  |  

  2015 could go down as the most active year for regulatory reform in the private securities market since 1940.   After a long delay since passage of the JOBS Act in 2012, we saw an unprecedented flurry of regulatory activity in 2015. Without further… Read More

January 10, 2016 @ 11:24 am By JD Alois  |  

In a subtle allusion to sci-fi favorite Star Trek, Freddie Mac has posed the question if marketplace lending is the “final frontier”. The December report from the quasi-public / private mortgage entity, states that in Sci-Fi dramas back in the day, “humankind accepted technological help… Read More

January 6, 2016 @ 1:18 pm By Georgia Quinn  |  

  When SEC Commissioner Piwowar lodged his controversial “NO” vote for the final rules implementing Title III Regulation CF last October, he did so with concern that the overcomplicated rules were laden with “traps” that could snare an unassuming company trying to raise funds. Unfortunately,… Read More

January 6, 2016 @ 11:33 am By JD Alois  |  

Yep. The Federal Reserve agrees. Small community banks have been crushed by excessive regulations. In the past, these localized financial institutions have been the foundation of economic growth for SMEs.  But misguided laws from  myopic politicians driven by the battle cry of “too big to… Read More

January 5, 2016 @ 3:55 pm By Conrad Ford  |  

  It’s long been known that small businesses are one of the cornerstones of a healthy economy, and in the UK, SMEs account for a staggering 99.8% of incorporated companies. Without getting into a discussion on that classification (if 99.8% are small- and medium-sized, what… Read More

January 5, 2016 @ 12:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

Jonathan Ortmans writing for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation believes Title III investment crowdfunding may start with a bit of a thud. With all the years of pent-up anticipation you may wonder why retail crowdfunding is not expected to jump out of the gate. But… Read More

January 3, 2016 @ 2:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

Since the financial crisis over 500,000 banking jobs have disappeared. Anytime there is a downturn on Wall Street jobs disappear. But is this time different? Bloomberg states; “Staff reductions at some of the world’s biggest banks are far from over. Deutsche Bank AG, which has… Read More

January 3, 2016 @ 2:07 pm By Spencer Li  |  

A flurry of internet finance-related regulatory documents were issued in China last week just before the New Year. On December 28th, the People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”) issued the final rules on online payments while the China Banking Regulatory Commission (“CBRC”) issued the draft rules… Read More