Tagged: perspective

FCA: It is Our Job to Provide the Conditions that Simplify Regulatory Complexities & Give Space for Firms to Innovate

Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition at the FCA, delivered a Keynote address today at the Innovative Finance Global Summit 2017. Woolard, the FCA’s champion for competition and thus a champion for consumers, delivered an important message regarding their regulatory mission: “It is… Read More

The JOBS Act Celebrates 5 Year Anniversary

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups or JOBS Act is celebrating its 5th year anniversary. This is the law enacted during the Obama administration that legalized three different iterations of investment crowdfunding. The JOBS Act under Title II enabled Reg D (506c) issuers to “generally solicit”… Read More

The OCC Fintech Charter is a Key First Step, Not the Last Word

  The technology transforming the financial sector is creating a historic opportunity to make financial services better and more accessible for all Americans. With this technology, consumers are finding new opportunities to borrow more affordably, save, invest, and transmit money.  While Americans prize the innovations… Read More

Here is the Letter Theresa May Sent to EU President Tusk Triggering Article 50 as the UK Separates from Europe

Embedded below is the letter UK Prime Minister Theresa May sent to European Council President Donald Tusk initiating Article 50 and thus commencing the UK’s departure from the European Union. The final results of negotiations will have a profound impact on both the UK and continental Europe’s… Read More

European Commission Considers Passport For Fintech Firms in Recognition of Consumer Benefits

The US Fintech marketplace is saddled with 50 different state regulators and innumerable federal agencies touching financial services. The UK is dealing with Brexit ramifications and its divorce proceedings with continental Europe. Meanwhile, the European Commission is considering passporting Fintech services in recognition of the profound benefits… Read More

Congressman Patrick McHenry on Financial Inclusion through Technology

On Monday, March 6, 2017, Congressman Patrick McHenry gave keynote remarks at the Lendit Conference in New York City. Among the themes of his speech, McHenry talked about the need for financial inclusion, citing a statistic that counties with less than 100,000 in population saw… Read More

The OCC Issues Draft Requirements for a Fintech Charter. Is a Charter for Innovative Financial Firms Dead in the Water?

As expected, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has published a draft licensing manual regarding the creation of a Fintech Charter. The draft is a supplement to the agency’s existing Licensing Manual and explains how Fintech firms may apply for special purpose bank charters…. Read More

Shortage of Risk Capital Hobbles Early Stage Companies in Europe

Early stage companies need funding to launch and grow. That is a fact. But early stage companies are the riskiest of firms and thus unable to attract debt or bank financing. The solution is to ask friends, families and, perhaps, angel investors to provide equity… Read More

The Fantastical World of Chinese Marketplace Lending Promotions

One of the fundamental differences between Chinese and US lending platforms can be found just by examining the home pages of their websites. Most, if not all, US platforms’ landing pages are targeted at borrowers and exhibit mainly information around borrowing whereas, on those of… Read More

Spring Budget Response: Innovate Finance Says UK Government Must Do More to Create Funding Ecosystem

Innovate Finance, the group that champion’s Fintech innovation in the UK and around the world, has shared the opinion of their Policy and Research Team on the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Phillip Hammond’s Spring Budget. Innovate Finance said they were pleased with the announcement that technical… Read More

Absolutely Vital: Improving Entrepreneurs Access to Capital

Entrepreneurship and the creation of small business is vital to the economic growth of the country and the welfare of the nation. This is a simple, indisputable fact. Yet too frequently, small business and entrepreneurs get pushed to the side as policymakers and regulators focus… Read More

LendInvest Advocates Government Policy Change: “The UK Risks Losing Another Generation of Property Entrepreneurs”

LendInvest, an online property finance marketplace, is demanding the government to revise its treatment of small and medium-sized property investment and development companies. Noting that four in five SMEhouse builders have disappeared since last housebuilding boom, LendInvest is calling on the government to recognize the… Read More

Surfing Fintech: Have We Reached the Third Wave?

As an industry, fintech has grown to the point that we can now start analysing its development. Many commentators have divided Fintech’s lifespan into ‘waves’. The first wave is centred around disruption, the second around collaboration, and the third wave – although more disputed –… Read More

SEC Report on Reg CF Crowdfunding: What Does it Mean?

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), under the auspices of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA), published a white paper on Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) earlier this week. The report, written by Vladimir Ivanov and Anzhela Knyazeva, is basically a point in time… Read More

We Need a Regulatory Framework for Cross-Border Crowdfunding Offerings

  Sara Hanks is well known in the alternative finance/crowdfunding space. Hanks is CEO and founder of CrowdCheck –  a due diligence, disclosure and compliance services for online capital formation. She is a Board member of CFIRA and is the current Chair of the SEC’s… Read More

Paul Niederer Slams Australian Crowdfunding Legislation in Public Comment

Paul Niederer, former CEO of the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board (ASSOB) – the very first platform established to raise capital online, posted a comment letter in response to the proposed Australian Crowd-Sourced Funding Bill (crowdfunding for the rest of the world). Never one to… Read More

The Invest in America Act: Supporting Entrepreneurs & Innovation While Empowering Everyday Americans

  First off, we all owe Tony a debt of gratitude for actually drafting this set of regulations. Legislative drafting is yeoman’s work especially when it comes to tax law. This new legislation solves for two extremely important problems in the U.S. economy and society…. Read More

FINRA Unravelled: Is the Securities Regulator in Need of Profound Reform?

FINRA, or the “Financial Industry Regulatory Authority”, is one of the most powerful financial regulators in the United States. It is also a private corporation that performs its duties as a “self-regulatory organization” (SRO). FINRA oversees the thousands of broker-dealers and other financial industry participants… Read More

OCC Fintech Charter: We Need a Government that Embraces Financial Innovation

The Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that was created by the National Currency Act of 1863 (154 years ago, 20 years before the automobile was invented by Karl Benz from Germany)…. Read More

Finance Disrupted: Is London’s Fintech Crown Debatable?

The State of Fintech in the United Kingdom. Observers in London see a paradox at the heart of today’s financial technology sector. If Fintech is all about playing the cutting edge and disrupting the mainstream, how come so many Fintech players and commentators obsess so… Read More

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