Tagged: perspective

Crowdfunding 2.0: Smart eTokens Have Arrived!

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

Traditional Banks are Really Shadow Finance & Wells Fargo Proves it.

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

Why Are Small Cap IPOs Under Attack?

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

How will Expedia Impact Financial Services? 

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

Ahead of the Curve: Opportunities that Deliver Extraordinary Returns for Investors

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

OCC Motion to Dismiss Regarding Conference of State Bank Supervisors Lawsuit: A Fatally Premature Attempt to Remedy a Speculative Harm

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

Nesta Promotes Cross Border Equity Crowdfunding Alliance with China

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

Danger: Crowdfunding on the Wrong Platform Could Force You to Go Public

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

7 Reasons Why Investing in Real Estate Online is Efficient & Effective

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

Women Entrepreneurs, Crowdfunding, and Access to Capital

Last month PwC and the Crowdfunding Center partnered on a report regarding women and crowdfunding. Referencing data collected by the Crowdfunding Center that analyzed 450,000 rewards based crowdfunding campaigns, the document entitled “Women Unbound: Crowdfunding – Unleashing Female Entrepreneurial Potential,” showed that women-led campaigns reached their… Read More

Report: Analog Regulations Built for the Traditional Banking Space are not Conducive to Fostering Innovation in Financial Services

  The digitization of finance is upon us. Fintech is rapidly changing all aspects of the financial services sector but different countries are adapting at different paces – regulation is largely why. Jackson Mueller, writing for the Milken Institute, hosted several roundtables earlier this year… Read More

FCA Survey: 25% of Regulated Firms Believe FCA is Facilitating Innovation in the UK

In the financial services sector clear and transparent regulation is vital to a healthy marketplace. There is no financial services firm that will take issue with this statement. Yet regulation that balances on the tightrope of an efficient market and investor protection is quite hard…. Read More

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment: Poised to Inspire the Next IPO Boom

It was the summer of 1995. Hootie and the Blowfish were on tour and Brad Pitt was People Magazine’s sexiest man alive. It was a time when salads were big and shirts were puffy. Microsoft released Windows 95, fueling a revolution that helped shape the… Read More

Data Proves Regulation Crowdfunding is a Revenue, Income Generator AND a Jobs Engine: What is our Government & Media Waiting For?

Regulation Crowdfunding is a little over a year old and the data indicates that it is a revenue and income generator for companies and a jobs engine for the economy. The law requires companies that complete successful campaigns to file an Annual Report with the… Read More

Look in the Mirror: Why the Number of Public Companies & IPOs are in Decline

  The decline in the number of public companies in the United States and the decline in the number of initial public offerings (IPOs) that occur each year are widely decried. It is irony that many who bemoan these changes are the very persons who… Read More

“Sarbanes-Oxley is Shutting Out Average Investors from the Early Growth Stages of the Next Cisco & Starbucks”

It is a fact that the number of public companies and the number of companies going public have dramatically decreased over the last 15 years. For private investors like High Net Worth Individuals or Venture Capitalists this has not been an issue. It is arguable… Read More

The Psychology of Crowdfunding

Working with crowdfunders for nearly five years we’ve seen and heard almost everything.  While I could write a book – or perhaps even a series of books – on all the different experiences, observations and encounters I’ve accumulated over time – I’m writing this article… Read More

Financial Innovation Now Lauds Payment Task Force Report, Asks Congress to Move Forward (Faster)

Today the Faster Payments Task Force, created by the Federal Reserve, released its final report along with their recommendations on what needs to be accomplished to bring the US up to date in the payments space. Anybody engaged in the payments sector understands that the US… Read More

Commissioner Piwowar Shares Insight into Securities Rulemaking, Fintech & SEC Direction on Capital Formation

Commissioner Michael Piwowar, who was Acting Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) until the successful appointment of Jay Clayton, visited with David Burton of the Heritage Foundation earlier this week providing a unique glimpse into the world of the SEC. Burton, who is… Read More

Acting Comptroller Answers Fintech Question: “What are your thoughts on granting national bank charters to financial technology companies?”

The Acting Comptroller of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Keith Noreika, answered a pressing question today in a speech delivered at the Exchequer Club in Washington, DC. Noreika asked the question of himself that everyone in finance had been wondering; “What are… Read More

Send this to a friend