Tagged: perspective

Karen Mills: Predictions for the Future of Small Business Lending and Fintech

Several years back while at LendIt Europe in London, I had the opportunity to sit down with Karen Mills a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Business School Harvard. Mills previously was a Cabinet Member during the Obama Administration from 2009 to 2013. At that time,… Read More

McKinsey: Banks Cannot Afford to Wait Any Longer as Digital Entrants Impact Bank Performance

McKinsey recently published a report on the global banking industry. While stating the financial recovery has helped old finance regain their footing the future is not quite so clear. According to the authors; “New digital entrants are also having an impact on bank performance, particularly… Read More

Perspective: Building a World-Class Risk Team

What is a world-class risk team and how do you build one? I’m often asked that question as Chief Risk Officer of BlueVine. Like other Fintech lenders, we are intensely focused on risk. Building a world-class risk team has been and will always be a… Read More

ICOs are Securities: Token Based Offerings Poised for a Rude Awakening as US Regulators May Soon Act

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pumped their regulatory brakes on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) earlier this year. Pointing to the DAO debacle, the Feds said if a tokenized offering is a security it will be regulated, end of story. This  statement was a long… Read More

US Bitcoin Foundation Seeks Donations to Challenge Pending Legislation that May Cripple Crypto

Pending US legislation titled “The Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2017,″ seeks to update criminal money laundering and counterfeiting statutes. As written now, the bill impacts the utilization of any and all cryptocurrencies. Senate Bill 1241, sponsored by Senator Chuck Grassley, will define anyone… Read More

Here is the London Token Fundraising Manifesto

There are multiple movements being organized by the crytpo world to create a legitimate and sustainable Initial Coin Offering ecosystem. This means putting the hammer to fraud and creating a set of principles based best practices to guide the nascent industry as it goes from… Read More

UK: The Investment Opportunities You Should Know About

  Since 2011, the UK technology sector has seen £28 billion invested into it – a sum which means it is the largest tech investment in the European Union. France has received £11 billion in investment since 2011, while Germany has gained £9.3 billion. In… Read More

Ron Suber: We are in the Golden Age of Fintech

  Ron Suber has become one of the most recognizable voices in the global Fintech arena. Since officially departing the Fintech he helped to create, the former President of Prosper Marketplace has become an elder statesman for online lending and financial innovation in general. An… Read More

If You Can’t Compete, Lobby Against Them: ICBA Tells FDIC to Deny Square Bank License, Asks Congress to Stop ILCs Altogether

There are two ways that big business competes in the USA. You can provide a better product or service for your customers or you can work with elected and appointed officials to block innovative firms. Of course, the consumer loses out in all this, but… Read More

US Treasury Report Outlines Ways to Boost Capital Markets Including JOBS Act Improvements

The US Department of Treasury has published a report on ways the government may streamline and reduce burdens of capital markets regulation. The report is an interesting compendium of the pressing need to reduce regulatory hurdles while pointing to policy initiatives that can improve access… Read More

This Time is Different: Bank of England Explains Why Fintech Will Completely Upend Traditional Finance

Andrew Hauser, the Executive Director of Banking, Payments and Financial Resilience from the Bank of England, delivered a speech today explaining why “this time is different.” His statement reflected on detractors who criticize Fintech as more of the same. Sure, ATMs came along and they were… Read More

Head of IMF Envisions a Future Without Banks as Fintech Takes Over

Late last month, Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund Managing Director, delivered a speech in the UK envisioning a future without banks. Now Lagarde did not say banks will no longer exist but she stepped up to the precipice of the death of banking stating there… Read More

Reason for Optimism: OCC Chief Says Reducing Regulatory Burden Means More Economic Opportunity

Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Keith Noreika, delivered a speech to midsize bank risk officers today that struck a positive note. The head of the OCC said there was much room for optimism as the regulatory pendulum has shifted away from the monolithic belief that… Read More

Is FINRA Broken? Does FINRA Need to be Fixed?

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

Comment on Recent Regulatory Moves by South Korea & Switzerland Regarding ICOs

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

The UK Punches Above its Weight in Alternative Finance & Crowdfunding Can Provide a More Robust Funding Ecosystem

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

European Central Bank Publishes Guide for Fintech Bank Applications

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

Finding Profit in Underinvested People & Places: Venture Capital & Crowdfunding for Community & Economic Development

  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

Will HM Treasury “Clamp Down” on EIS & Undercut Investment in Early Stage Firms?

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

Federal Reserve Attorney: US Not Interested in Fintech Sandboxes

  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

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