Opinion

Editorial opinions and perspective on Fintech.

Lawrence Lessig, Creator of Crowdfunded MayDay PAC, is Running for President

Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Professor, iconoclast, and creator of MayDay PAC, has entered the 2016 Presidential election. Lessig is seeking the nomination of the Democratic party joining Bernie Sanders in the quest to dethrone Hillary Clinton from her anointed position as party standard bearer.  Lessig,… Read More

Niederer: Proposed Australian Regulatory Framework for Crowdfunding is Wrong

Paul Niederer, CEO of ASSOB – one of the very first investment crowdfunding platforms ever, has shared his opinion of the recently published a regulatory framework for crowdfunding in Australia and, in brief, he thinks it is wrong. Forest for the Trees Niedierer believes the… Read More

CNBC Talks Shadow Banking (Video)

Financial industry touchstone CNBC reviewed the hot topic of Silicon Valley gunning for the banking industry.  Old school types are quick to assign Marketplace Lending (P2P Lending) and equity crowdfunding to the shadow banking never-world but the reality is that internet finance is more efficient,… Read More

Marketplace Lending: A Need for Some Definition, Data & More Discourse. A Response to the US Treasury RFI

  As traditional lending tightened for consumers and small businesses, following the 2008 recession and the Dodd Frank regulatory environment that followed, alternative lending has now become quite the burgeoning new industry. And with alternative lenders ranging the gamut from near-bank products and terms to… Read More

Does it Matter Who Does the Lending on Peer-to-Peer Lending Platforms?

This is a question I get asked a lot. And the usual line of thinking of those asking the question is that it does matter.  The common assumption is that the increased activity of “institutional” funds is crowding out the core retail investors that platforms… Read More

Crowdfunding Losing its Crowd? Money&Co CEO Nicola Horlick Promises, “We Will Keep the Crowd.”

Interest in crowdfunding from banks and other noteworthy investors including some family offices has steadily increased in recent months, so much that Money&Co blogged, “It’s often said that crowdfunding is in danger of losing the crowd.” Could crowdfunding lose its crowd? How does the industry… Read More

How Good Is Too Good? The Underwriting Risks Of Crowdfunding Real Estate Deals

The awareness and popularity of real estate based equity crowdfunding (i.e. “RECfunds”) continues to grow exponentially. As do the number of real estate crowdfunding portals. RECFunds offer substantial benefits to today’s investors including access to multiple types of projects, smaller barriers to investment, and portfolio… Read More

SEC Commissioner Gallagher: Dodd-Frank has Failed. It is Strangling the Economy.

In what may be his last speech as an SEC Commissioner, Daniel Gallagher addressed the US Chamber of Commerce and criticized parts of the SEC, and much of the new world order of regulatory over-sight.   Gallagher scorched Dodd-Frank as a grandiose plan that has increased the fragility of… Read More

Australian Treasury Drafts New Guidelines for Crowdfunding; Opponents Share Insight

The Australian federal government’s proposed expansion of access to crowdfunding for businesses falls short of the hoped-for system, according to Yahoo Finance.  New draft guidelines issued by the Australian Treasury include increasing the amount companies are allowed to raise through crowdfunding to AUS $5 million,… Read More

Establishing a Financial Services Firm in the UK: Britain Welcomes the Business

The United Kingdom has been very vocal, and aggressive, in courting financial firms and FinTech startups. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne wants the UK to be the world leader in developing innovative FinTech firms.  Osborne enjoys a partnership with his objective in Prime Minister… Read More

Bond Street CEO Comments on Department of Treasury “Request for Information” on Marketplace Lending

Crowdfund Insider reported last month on the US Department of Treasury’s interest in the fast growing Marketplace / Peer-to-Peer lending space. Treasury published a “Request for Information” (embedded below) seeking public comment to study the various business models and review “how the regulatory framework should… Read More

Sherwood Neiss on Crowdfunding: “No Systemic Fraud Anywhere” (Video)

Shewood (Woodie) Neiss, co-founder of Crowdfund Capital Advisors, joined the studios of CNBC today – a visit that coincided with a visit by former Congressman Eric Cantor who happened to have published an Op-Ed on crowdfunding today. Neiss spoke about Title II, accredited crowdfunding, and… Read More

Eric Cantor Pounds the Table on Finalizing Title III Crowdfunding Rules

Eric Cantor spent 13 years in the House of Representatives, the last three as House Majority Leader.  After losing a primary battle that surprised just about everyone, Cantor took a new day job as Vice Chairman of investment bank Moelis & Company. Even though Cantor is… Read More

InvestUp CEO James Tuckett Talks Crowdfunding: “2015 is a Watershed Year”

This week Crowdfund Insider featured Chris Tyrell’s post “Crowdfunding is Impacting the Global Economy” and Rodrigo Niño’s post “Crowdfunding: From Impossible, to Improbable to Inevitable in less than 10 years,” James Tuckett, CEO of investUP adds to this exciting conversation below as he shares his insights in a release regarding… Read More

Crowdfunding is Impacting the Global Economy

  Innovation means creating something that makes a process or product more efficient. The result can be a price reduction passed on to consumers in the short run, or an increase in the speed at which a business operates. Ultimately, innovation serves as the backbone… Read More

Crowdfunding: From Impossible, to Improbable to Inevitable in less than 10 years

  It was not that long ago that the term “crowdfunding” entered into the common lexicon. Today we regularly watch, or read about, multi-million crowdfunding campaigns delivering the next big thing to supportive consumers who are willing to wait a bit longer to receive a perk,… Read More

Orchard Provides Feedback on Recent US Treasury Interest in Marketplace Lending

  Last week Crowdfund Insider published a report on how the US Department of Treasury was investigating marketplace lending and the rising prominence of online, direct lenders. While the interest is certainly understandable, anytime the government shows up – industry gets concerned.  While Treasury stated their… Read More

Women Investors are a Force to Be Reckoned With

Something strange is happening. It may be received wisdom that women tend to invest less than men, and that when they do they are more risk averse, but something is up. Something is changing and it’s changing in a pretty fundamental way that might mean… Read More

Industry Report: Disruptive Finance is Making Finance More Transparent, Efficient & Democratic for Entrepreneurs & Investors

New forms of finance are poised to inalterably change the entire finance industry ecosystem we know today.  Investment crowdfunding, and the various iterations of alternative finance, are still in the early stages of its evolution.   The disruptive finance industry is measured in mere billions… Read More

French Alternativa: Equity Crowdfunding with a Secondary Market

Alternativa.fr is an intriguing cross between an equity crowdfunding platform and an alternative exchange system which gives it something many crowdfunding platforms would like to have: a secondary market for trading SME’s private equity shares. Creating liquidity for private shares is an ongoing discussion in… Read More

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