Politics, Legal & Regulation

July 31, 2015 @ 10:22 am By JD Alois  |  

    Doug Ellenoff, a leading attorney and advocate in the equity crowdfunding sector, visited our elected officials on Capitol Hill this past week to deliver an update on the status of crowdfunding in the United States.  Crowdfund Insider posted the video here, but unfortunately… Read More

July 31, 2015 @ 10:00 am By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced the appointment of Christopher Woolard to its Board.  Woolard is currently the Director of Strategy and Competition at the regulatory entity.  Woolard has been a member of the FCA executive committee since the FCA was created from the… Read More

July 31, 2015 @ 9:21 am By JD Alois  |  

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

July 30, 2015 @ 12:24 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has backed the UK FinTech 2020 manifesto created by FinTech trade body Innovate Finance, according to a release. The manifesto, which was released as Cameron leads a trade delegation of British FinTech leaders to South East Asia this week, aims… Read More

July 30, 2015 @ 11:52 am By Erin Hobey  |  

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

July 29, 2015 @ 11:56 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

Today marks a landmark day for Illinois entrepreneurs and investors as Governor Bruce Rauner signed and approved the Illinois Intrastate Crowdfunding Bill (HB 3429). The bill was passed unanimously by the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate back in late May but with the Governor’s… Read More

July 28, 2015 @ 6:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer presided over the Second “Make it in America: What’s Next?” hearing held on Capitol Hill today (July 28th).  These presentations are designed to address the economic landscape; the challenges and potential solutions. Attorney Doug Ellenoff, partner at the law firm… Read More

July 27, 2015 @ 10:08 am By JD Alois  |  

Lawrence Lessig, the Harvard Professor and serial gadfly turned PAC operator, is out as CEO of Mayday PAC – an entity he created to fix the world of money and politics. Lessig is being replaced by law professor, and former New York governor candidate, Zephyr… Read More

July 27, 2015 @ 12:12 am By JD Alois  |  

  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

July 26, 2015 @ 10:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

New Jersey recently presented a job creation and economic growth package and as part of the legislative push the state may legalized investment crowdfunding.  The New Jersey bill allows entrepreneurs based in the state to seek up to $1 million in private capital.  Non accreds… Read More

July 26, 2015 @ 10:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a Q&A addressing the potential for nefarious characters to abuse investment crowdfunding to launder cash or provide financing to terrorist organizations.  This is a subject the traditional banking sector knows rather well as they are subjected… Read More

July 21, 2015 @ 3:24 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

  “I was hoping for a 50 percent success rate,” said Katharine Czarnecki, community development director for the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s (MEDC) “Public Spaces, Community Places” initiative, a partnership with crowdfunding platform Patronicity and the Michigan Municipal League. Czarnecki oversees the program, and was quoted… Read More

July 20, 2015 @ 12:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

Dodd- Frank was a 895 page act of legislation designed to right the wrongs that caused the implosion of financial markets that ended up in the rubble of the Great Recession.  Five years ago this month, the bill was signed into law and set forth on… Read More

July 19, 2015 @ 11:52 pm By Midori Yoshimura  |  

    With China’s stock market crash still recent, the People’s Bank of China (PBC) released guidelines for the country’s rapidly burgeoning online finance market at the start of this weekend, outlined in a document published by the PBC.  The peer to peer lending industry in… Read More

July 17, 2015 @ 1:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

Back in January of this year, Crowdfund Insider covered a patent lawsuit that sought to challenge many of the prominent US crowdfunding platforms in operation today.  This included both rewards/donations and investment crowdfunding platforms.  AlphaCap ventures, a company that has been described as a patent troll,… Read More

July 17, 2015 @ 10:16 am By JD Alois  |  

Martin Wheatley, the current FCA CEO, has announced his departure from the regulatory agency as of September 12, 2015. Wheatley will continue to advise the FCA board until January of 2016. Tracey McDermott will be taking over as Acting CEO from September 12 while the search for… Read More

July 17, 2015 @ 7:59 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Government has published a consultation paper on the deduction of income tax from interest on peer to peer lending. Closing comments are expected by September 18, 2015. The query tackles the issue of who should deduct and pay taxes. The challenge is not… Read More

July 16, 2015 @ 5:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Treasury Department has published an RFI on the operating environment surrounding Marketplace Lending. Previously labeled “Peer-to-Peer lending”, as the industry has grown a more diverse ecosystem has evolved. Today much of the funding is from institutions and a lesser portion is coming from smaller investors. The RFI… Read More

July 14, 2015 @ 8:47 am By Anthony Zeoli  |  

  What started as an action against a single company in late June has evolved into a probe of an entire industry. As reported by the Wall Street Journal late last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a new probe spurred by… Read More

July 13, 2015 @ 12:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

The states of Massachusetts and Montana have attacked SEC and their final rules regarding Title IV of the JOBS Act (referred to as Regulation A+). Now the state of Washington is jumping into the mix by proposing issuers utilizing the updated exemption must have to file with… Read More