Tagged: legal

August 26, 2015 @ 2:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

National law firm Ballard Spahr has announced the creation of a “Marketplace Lending Task Force” to assist the growing number of direct lending platforms manage the challenges of getting big – fast.  Recently there has been additional regulatory interest by the federal government. The US… Read More

August 26, 2015 @ 1:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding, and using the internet to raise money for an increasing number of industry sectors, is still in its infancy. It is really the internet that is the disruptive innovation. It is this technology that is altering the funding process and crowdfunding has become the term… Read More

August 24, 2015 @ 9:38 am By JD Alois  |  

Title IV of the JOBS Act fixed some of the issues swirling around old Regulation A.  Lightly utilized in its previous incarnation, Regulation A+ (as it is commonly called) created two different funding tiers which allow non-accredited investors access to a new securities exemption and… Read More

August 19, 2015 @ 5:00 pm By Charles Kaufman and Jor Law  |  

If your company has decided to take advantage of the new avenues for reaching investors under Regulation A, the biggest task you face will be preparing an offering statement that includes mandatory disclosures about the offering and the offeror, and obtaining Securities and Exchange Commission… Read More

July 29, 2015 @ 9:58 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

UpCounsel, an online marketplace for legal services, announced it has secured $10 million in Series A funding to accelerate further adoption of its on-demand legal marketplace. New investor Menlo Ventures led the funding round with participation from previous investors including Homebrew and Metamorphic Ventures. The company has raised $13.9… Read More

July 23, 2015 @ 8:30 am By JD Alois  |  

LexShares, an online marketplace that matches plaintiffs litigation to investors says it is “open to institutional investors”.  The crowdfunding platform states its model of crowdfunding has not changed but it will now allow individual investors participate alongside big money.  The site did not announce it… Read More

July 1, 2015 @ 12:14 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

  Last week the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued  a Cease and Desist Order (the “Order” embedded below) against two related companies for acting as unregistered broker-dealers in connection with the sale of securities under the “EB-5” Investor Program (also sometimes referred to… Read More

June 29, 2015 @ 7:12 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Kickstarter has achieved a major victory in federal court today, marking the end of a four-year-long patent dispute. In 2011, ArtistShare, which was founded Brian Camelio, was issued a patent for “Method and Apparatuses for Financing and Marketing a Creative Work,” claiming “a system and method for… Read More

June 24, 2015 @ 3:02 pm By Samuel Guzik  |  

  On June 23, 2015, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission provided some public guidance on certain issues arising under the new Regulation A+ Final Rules. In a new section of the SEC’s Compliance and Disclosure and Interpretations (C&DI’s),  a Q and A… Read More

June 11, 2015 @ 2:42 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

As you may remember, in an earlier post entitled “Investor Protection Issue – Why You May Want To Reconsider How “Secure” You Feel About Your Real Estate Crowdfunding Investment,” I took issue with the fact that the majority, if not all, currently offered Real Estate… Read More

May 22, 2015 @ 9:33 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Friday, new UK crowdfunding platform CrowdJustice officially opened its doors to those seeking funds for their latest legal situations. According to TechCrunch, CrowdJustice was founded by ex-United Nations lawyer, Julia Salasky, and is considered a crowdfunding platform for “public interest” litigation. She explained: “CrowdJustice… Read More

March 17, 2015 @ 10:33 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Legal firm, Stephens Scown, has partnered with Crowdfunder UK to become a sponsor of Crowdfunder Local in the South West covering the Crowdfund Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset regions. The rewards-based crowdfunding platform works with businesses, charities and community groups to help them raise funds from the… Read More

March 13, 2015 @ 12:53 pm By Charles Kaufman and Jor Law  |  

This the second part, of a two part series, reviewing Bad Actors in private placements.  The first article may be viewed here. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued new Rule 506(d) in 2013, a rule that bars felons and other specified “bad actors” from… Read More

March 6, 2015 @ 12:07 pm By Charles Kaufman and Jor Law   |  

This article is part one, of a two part discussion, on Identifying Bad Actors for private placements. In 2010, as part of the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, Congress adopted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. While most of… Read More

March 1, 2015 @ 9:24 pm By Midori Yoshimura  |  

To expand access to legal justice for those who can’t otherwise afford it, a new national crowdfunding platform, CrowdDefend, will publically launch this week. CrowdDefend helps individuals, organizations and businesses raise funds to cover legal representation, court fees and associated trial costs for cases large… Read More

February 23, 2015 @ 10:09 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

Early in 2014, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) announced its intention to conduct an examination of certain registered broker-dealers and investment advisers in order to assess the general vulnerability of the securities industry, as a whole, to cyber-attacks…. Read More

December 10, 2014 @ 1:17 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this fall, “Girls” star Lena Dunham released her book Not that Kind of Girl. The new memoir exposed untold stories about the actress, including a sexual assault during her days at Oberlin College. Now, the man that was apparently involved in the situation, who is… Read More

September 23, 2014 @ 5:45 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this month, Com1 launched a crowdfunding campaing on Indiegogo to raise funds for its “first Android Wear” smartwatch. The plan was for the watch to be sold for a price of $125 ($175 for the stainless steel or aluminum), the project wanted to raise… Read More

December 26, 2013 @ 10:29 am By Charles Luzar  |  

TransCanada and its American subsidiary, Keystone, are in the midst of seeking approval for a new pipeline to run from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast. Called the Keystone XL pipeline, it is a highly controversial project that has its passionate supporters… Read More

November 23, 2013 @ 9:33 am By Charles Luzar  |  

A variety of crowdfunding efforts have been launched seeking funding for Ross Ulbricht’s legal defense fund. Ross Ulbricht recently made headlines when he was arrested in conjunction with an investigation into dark web drug marketplace SilkRoad. Ulbricht is accused of being “Dread Pirate Roberts,” the… Read More