Tagged: perspective

October 3, 2017 @ 7:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or FINRA is currently in the midst of a comprehensive review of its rules and practices. The internal project has been labeled FINRA 360 and is said to ensure that FINRA is operating as the most effective self-regulatory organization it can be…. Read More

October 1, 2017 @ 1:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Just about every week we have been hearing about regulators in one country or another curtailing Initial Coin Offerings or simply banning them outright. China, perhaps taking the most extreme action, simply banned cryptocurrency exchanges and ICOs effectively crushing the nascent market domestically. Last week… Read More

September 28, 2017 @ 2:00 am By JD Alois  |  

The global crowdfunding ecosystem is still quite young. When you compare traditional forms of capital formation to emerging online models crowdfunding is very much in its infancy and will take many years to fully mature. Prognosticators abound as to the success, or failure of, alternative… Read More

September 25, 2017 @ 4:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Central Bank (ECB) has published a “Guide to assessments of Fintech credit institution licence applications.” The purpose of the Guide is described as seeking to enhance transparency for potential Fintech bank applicants and increase their understanding of the procedures and criteria applied by… Read More

September 24, 2017 @ 9:18 pm By Jennifer Rimbach  |  

  Millions of Americans rely on domestic discretionary spending appropriated by the U.S. Federal Government, including everything from affordable housing and education to the arts. Agencies such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development provide programs and services that impact neighborhoods and communities across… Read More

September 22, 2017 @ 9:37 am By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this week, the Sunday Times reported that the UK government was examining plans to “clamp down” on the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). This program is a tax exemption that seeks to incentivize investment in early stage companies – an intrinsically risky endeavor. By providing… Read More

September 18, 2017 @ 4:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

  There is a report in Bloomberg Law that Federal Reserve Attorney, Gerald Tsai, has indicated the US is not that interested in creating a regulatory Sanbox or Fintech Sandbox – similar to what the rest of the world is embracing. Tsai reportedly acknowledged that… Read More

September 13, 2017 @ 2:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

There is a lot going on in the cryptocurrency driven Initial Coin Offering market today. In recent weeks, national regulators have acknowledged the existence of tokenized funding rounds along with the fact that many are really securities and thus regulated. The US Securities and Exchange… Read More

September 11, 2017 @ 9:37 am By Jillian Sidoti  |  

A letter to Elio Motors (OTC:ELIO) …   I don’t drive motorcycles. Often on the Southern California highways, I curse lane splitting motorcycles and the danger they present to themselves and others. I have long said to my children that I wish they would not… Read More

September 6, 2017 @ 4:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Initial Coin Offering (ICO) market is going through a turbulent period of change and regulation. Following an incredible rise of the new form of raising capital online, regulators around the world are pumping their rule making breaks to slow down cryptocurrency based securities offerings…. Read More

September 1, 2017 @ 3:46 pm By AdaPia d'Errico  |  

Modern Portfolio Theory is based on the idea that certain types of investment risk can be mitigated through a strategic pattern of diversification and asset allocation. Diversification is important because it spreads risk across multiple types of investments within a single portfolio. By diversifying into… Read More

September 1, 2017 @ 12:11 pm By Barry James  |  

Crowdfunding is about to enter a new and more powerful phase. Having become ensnared in a tangle of aging regulation designed for a disconnected, opaque world of fast-talking strangers Crowdfunding – in all it’s forms but especially Equity (ECF) – has yet to live up… Read More

August 31, 2017 @ 5:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

Over the past several years, traditional financial services firms have thrown shade at alternative finance platforms by labeling them “Shadow Finance.” This oblique reference to Fintech firms seeking to disrupt and dethrone old school banks is standard banter on the various financial news networks. Even… Read More

August 30, 2017 @ 3:48 pm By Dara Albright  |  

On Friday, August 18, 2017, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSSE) made IPO history by becoming the world’s largest Reg A+ IPO, raising $30M at a pre-money valuation of $120M, and the first Reg A+ to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market, Nasdaq’s… Read More

August 29, 2017 @ 12:50 pm By Niels Turfboer  |  

Sites like Expedia and Booking.com have transformed the travel industry; can comparison sites do the same for financial services? By now we are all familiar with travel comparison sites like Expedia and Booking.com. Plug in your details and the computer will come up with a selection of options –… Read More

August 23, 2017 @ 7:24 am By Swati Chataverdi  |  

Imagine if the going rate for your iPad 2 was $100 trillion. Apart from costing five times the GDP of the United States, such a device would be almost impossible to manufacture in a sustainable manner. In the 1940s, however, the technology needed to power… Read More

August 18, 2017 @ 9:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this month the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) fired off a counter salvo in the legal battle regarding the OCC Fintech Charter. The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) launched an attack against the OCC this past spring. Many Fintech industry participants… Read More

August 16, 2017 @ 8:44 am By JD Alois  |  

This is interesting. Nesta, the UK based non-profit foundation that focuses on innovation, believes the UK should work towards creating a cross border equity crowdfunding alliance with China. The UK has been the clear leader in online capital formation since the early days. While the… Read More

August 15, 2017 @ 11:31 am By Ryan Feit  |  

Some equity crowdfunding platforms are putting startups at serious risk.  Working with a platform that doesn’t structure your deal appropriately could jeopardize your ability to raise future capital or worse, force you to become a public reporting company. The emergence of equity crowdfunding is a… Read More

August 10, 2017 @ 10:00 pm By AdaPia d'Errico  |  

Real estate investing is on the rise again. Online real estate investing is quickly becoming the preferred method of investing for many people. Forbes reported earlier this year that real estate crowdfunding was a $3.5 billion industry in 2016, up from $1 billion in 2014…. Read More