Uncategorized

June 2, 2017 @ 3:19 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Jay Clayton published a request for comments today tackling a controversial topic. Chair Clayton addressed the Department of Labor’s “Fiduciary Rule” that deals with the conduct of investment advisors and broker dealers. It will also impact… Read More

May 14, 2017 @ 7:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

Tennis star and Seedrs advisor Andy Murray has invested in three early-stage UK businesses. The Seedrs listed companies include Den, Morpher and Landbay. Murray’s Seedrs originated portfolio now stands at over 20 companies, according to the platform.  As has been the case in the past, Murray… Read More

May 4, 2017 @ 4:41 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Co-founded in 2011 by Helen Boyle and Claire Ollard, The Dip Society offers healthy dips and pâtés in several British retailers and independent shops including Selfridges, Booths and Ocado. Primed for further growth, the all-female executive team has paired with Seedrs to raise £300,000 by way of… Read More

April 25, 2017 @ 9:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Chichester Member of Parliament Andrew Tyrie has announced he will not stand for election this coming June. Tyrie has been the highly influential Chair of the Commons Treasury Select Committee since 2010. The MP released a statement on his decision, saying; “After very careful thought,… Read More

April 13, 2017 @ 12:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

BrewDog released impressive news this week. The UK-based craft brewery received £213 million for a 22% investment from private equity firm TSG – an entity with $5 billion in assets under management. The investment delivered a £1 billion valuation on the fast growing brewery –… Read More

April 5, 2017 @ 4:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fundrise is adding a new investment vehicle to its growing list of opportunities for smaller investors. This time the real estate marketplace has filed a Form 1-A with the SEC for a “Fundrise For-Sale Housing eFUND”. Fundrise started as a pure real-estate crowdfunding platform offering… Read More

March 27, 2017 @ 9:28 am By JD Alois  |  

Entrepreneurial Scotland is preparing for its forthcoming Entrepreneurial Scotland Summit scheduled to take place this coming May. Scotland’s leading entrepreneurial membership network says it has assembled a world-class roster of speakers who will share their insights with Scotland’s entrepreneurial leaders. During times of Brexit and… Read More

March 24, 2017 @ 3:16 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions, part of the House Financial Services Committee, has scheduled a hearing on the state of bank lending in the US. The hearing will take place at 2PM Tuesday, March 28th. Typically these hearings are live-streamed on the HFSC website. The… Read More

March 24, 2017 @ 5:33 am By Erin Hobey  |  

“I was attracted to the MNP Auctioneers business because it will bring new opportunities to South East Asia as evidenced by the success of Christie’s and Sotheby’s for this industry,” Dato Wei Chuan Beng commented. “I think ECF provides value to MNP as it opens the… Read More

March 9, 2017 @ 5:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) approved six bills today, each designed to improve the environment for small business. All of these bills had previously passed the Committee in a prior iteration. Several had been approved by the full House. HFCS Chairman Jeb Hensarling commented… Read More

March 6, 2017 @ 7:30 am By JD Alois  |  

LendInvest, an online property finance marketplace, is demanding the government to revise its treatment of small and medium-sized property investment and development companies. Noting that four in five SMEhouse builders have disappeared since last housebuilding boom, LendInvest is calling on the government to recognize the… Read More

February 21, 2017 @ 8:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

  Sara Hanks is well known in the alternative finance/crowdfunding space. Hanks is CEO and founder of CrowdCheck –  a due diligence, disclosure and compliance services for online capital formation. She is a Board member of CFIRA and is the current Chair of the SEC’s… Read More

February 14, 2017 @ 4:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

Lending Club (NYSE:LC) has reported Q4 2016 earnings along with forward-looking statements for 2017. Lending Club reported that loan originations in Q4 of 2016 were $1.99 billion, or 1% higher compared to the $1.97 billion reported in Q3 of 2016 and down 23% compared to $2.58 billion in the… Read More

January 17, 2017 @ 12:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

Financial Innovation Now (FIN) has sent a letter to the Office of the Comptroller (OCC) of the Currency in support of the OCC’s initiative to support Fintech innovation. FIN is an alliance of big tech including; Apple, Amazon, PayPal, Intuit and Google (Alphabet). As big… Read More

December 22, 2016 @ 9:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Insurtech firm Lemonade launched in September as a “full stack insurance carrier” in the state of New York. Today, Lemonade is preparing to offer insurance to 97% of US citizens by filing for licenses in 46 states and the District of Columbia to offer homeowners/renters insurance…. Read More

December 21, 2016 @ 11:49 am By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is an important aspect of investor protection in the UK.  Similar in function to the US FDIC, certain financial accounts are insured by the government against financial loss. During the past two years, the FSCS paid out £271 million… Read More

December 13, 2016 @ 6:31 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Gurugram, India-based platform for enabling debt-financing for small businesses Indifi has raised $10 Mn in a Series B funding round led by Omidyar Network. Existing investors Accel Partners and Elevar Equity also participated in the round. Indifi Technologies, while maintaining its focus on MSME businesses, intends to direct the investments toward… Read More

December 7, 2016 @ 10:53 am By Jessica Pham  |  

Economic migrants rely on remittances to ensure that their families are well off at home and to maintain ties to their home countries.  Fees imposed by big banks and traditional remittance institutions eat into foreign workers’ hard-earned incomes, however, so startups focused on money transfers… Read More

December 3, 2016 @ 11:18 am By JD Alois  |  

This may be a case of too much of a good thing. The FT is reporting that Zopa has put a halt to retail investors lending money on their peer to peer lending platform. Allegedly, yield hungry investors are “flooding” the market hunting for better… Read More

December 1, 2016 @ 10:02 am By Erin Hobey  |  

TWINO Group, a European consumer lender which has been operating since 2009 with its P2P lending platform launching in 2015, provides unsecured consumer loans for private individuals in ten countries, including Poland, Russia and Georgia, with an intention to move into Mexico. TWINO’s P2P lending platform offers… Read More