Tagged: legal

March 17, 2016 @ 9:20 am By JD Alois  |  

Last month, Crowdfund Insider reported that Fundrise had terminated its CFO for allegations of extortion.  In a filing with the SEC, Fundrise CEO and founder Ben Miller stated; “I am saddened to have to inform you that an employee of our company has engaged in… Read More

March 16, 2016 @ 2:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a pretty big win for the real estate crowdfunding platform iFunding, the lawsuit filed against it by CapStack Partners was “discontinued with prejudice in all respects” yesterday. Crowdfund Insider reported in January that CapStack Partners had filed a grievance with the Supreme Court of… Read More

March 14, 2016 @ 11:56 am By JD Alois  |  

In response to the rapid increase of Fintech in Asia, a new conference has been launched to address the fast changing environment for financial firms. The 2016  Fintech Law in Asia Conference is scheduled to take place at Nagoya University in Japan this April. The… Read More

March 7, 2016 @ 4:00 am By Scott Andersen  |  

The recent economic downturn is not the only challenge for entrepreneurs in the EB-5 and JOBS Act industries.  Rather, the challenges include close regulatory scrutiny by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Enforcement.  While both EB-5 and the JOBS Act were… Read More

February 26, 2016 @ 10:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Lending Club (NYSE: LC), the largest marketplace lending platform in the United States, has altered operations in light of concerns over the Madden vs. Midland decision delivered by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in May last year. This court case has cast a bit of… Read More

February 24, 2016 @ 1:51 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last week, singer Kesha was hit a major legal blow when a judge refused to allow her to end her contract with Sony. The Tik Tok songstress asked to leave the mega music giant after admitting she was mentally abused and raped by record producer,… Read More

February 4, 2016 @ 3:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

COIN, the one card to rule them all, has been slapped with a class action lawsuit filed by Kronenberger Rosenfeld, a San Francisco-based law firm that specializes in internet, tech and media law.  The suit was filed against COIN alleging they “knowingly marketed a defective product”…. Read More

January 26, 2016 @ 5:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

Real estate crowdfunding platform iFunding has been hit with a second lawsuit. iFunding was recently blindsided by a suit filed by CapStack Partners in the New York Supreme Court. Today The Real Deal is reporting that iFunding is party to a second suit, this one… Read More

January 14, 2016 @ 4:37 pm By Georgia Quinn  |  

As discussed in part one, the SEC’s final Regulation Crowdfunding rules require thorough analysis to not fall prey to potential traps. While I firmly believe that we can make crowdfunding work regardless of the roadblocks set forth, it does not mean that we can afford… 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 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

November 19, 2015 @ 8:30 am By JD Alois  |  

A partnership between the Crowdfunding Hub, European Network of Crowdfunding Professionals and FG lawyers (Dutch boutique law firm with a special focus on alternative finance and fintech), has launched pan-European research to identify the liability risk in respect to the various forms of crowdfunding. Entitled… Read More

November 18, 2015 @ 9:30 am By JD Alois  |  

The ongoing battle between the States and the Securities and Exchange Commission took another step forward this week as the Commission responded to the States claims.  States securities regulators in both Montana and Massachusets, supported by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), have persistently… Read More

November 6, 2015 @ 1:31 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

  With all the excitement last week surrounding the SEC’s release of the final Title III rules implementing “Regulation Crowdfunding,” the SEC’s vote in favor of proposing amendments to the current Rule 147 to help foster Intrastate Crowdfunding amounted to little more than a side-note…. Read More

October 19, 2015 @ 8:30 am By Anthony Zeoli  |  

As many of you know, since the release of the final Title IV (i.e. “Regulation A+”) rules earlier this year, Massachusetts and Montana have been vehemently contesting the provisions allowing for pre-emption of State regulation with respect to “Tier II” offerings. They have even gown… Read More

October 8, 2015 @ 1:02 pm By Jor Law  |  

For years, most capital raises conducted by private companies have primarily relied on Regulation D as an exemption from compliance with certain burdensome securities laws.  In particular, most offerings were conducted under what was known as Rule 506 under Regulation D.  Those offerings, which have… Read More

September 15, 2015 @ 4:00 am By Anthony Zeoli  |  

Steve Jobs is quoted as saying that “innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” While I personally agree with this statement, and it may certainly be the case in the mobile device and other industries, when it comes to the offering and sale of… Read More

September 11, 2015 @ 11:06 am By Amy Wan  |  

  Since the SEC announced the intent to implement the new Regulation A+ rules in March, there’s been a lot of hype around the potential for Regulation A+. This newly implemented offering mechanism has been heralded for its ability to bring increased opportunities to the… Read More

September 4, 2015 @ 4:00 pm By Charles Kaufman and Jor Law  |  

        If your company is not public and plans to raise capital, you might have considered Regulation A Plus – and you are aware that it comes with a big warning sticker: the company needs to prepare an offering circular and go… Read More

August 31, 2015 @ 1:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

As aptly stated in one publication, Massachusetts and Montana are giving Regulation A+  – an F.  While the failing grade is perplexing to most casual observers, the battle over this new investment crowdfunding exemption and the petitioning states is nowhere near completion. In a filing… Read More