Tagged: perspective

On Investment Crowdfunding, Diversification & the Wisdom of the Crowd

Still Time to Fix the Fix Crowdfunding Act One of the cardinal rules of investing is  diversification – a critical ingredient for long-term portfolio growth.  This rule applies with equal, if not greater, force when investing in “Title III Regulation CF Crowdfunding” securities – open… Read More

Video: Christian Catalini Says Title III Crowdfunding Not Likely to Generate the Next Uber

Christian Catalini, a Professor at MIT Sloan School of Managment and one of the leading academics in the crowdfunding sector, recently published a new video sharing his views on the emerging investment crowdfunding sector. Catalini has long followed both the rewards iteration and accredited crowdfunding under… Read More

Marketplace Lending: The Challenge of Keeping It Simple And Transparent

LendIt Europe gathered over 900 attendees from 50 countries on the banks of the Thames river to network and hear about the latest trends in online direct lending. The tone of the conference was clearly set by the UK keynote speakers. The UK being 4… Read More

How to Fix the Fix Crowdfunding Act

Let me begin by saying god bless Congressman Patrick McHenry. He is out there on the front lines actually trying to make a difference and help entrepreneurs and small businesses get off the ground and succeed. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, and a… Read More

Shocker: Elizabeth Warren Tells President Obama to Demote SEC Chair Mary Joe White

Senator Elizabeth Warren is rattling cages once again. This time, she is blasting SEC Chair Mary Jo White asking President Obama to fire or demote Chair White in a public letter. According to her letter, Warren states, “enough is enough” that Chair White has undermined… Read More

There are Now 17 Registered Reg CF Platforms. Can they be Sustained?

Reg CF investment crowdfunding (Title III of the JOBS Act) has only been actionable since May of this year. At the end of May, there were 10 FINRA/SEC approved Regulation CF platforms with only a handful listing live investment opportunities. The approved platforms at the… Read More

Ruth Hedges: Crowdfunding Will Be Ubiquitous

Ruth Hedges is from the early days of crowdfunding in the United States. Part of an original group of committed individuals who advocated on behalf of updating antiquated securities regulations, Hedges is a founding member of the Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates (CFIRA); the group originally… Read More

The Regulatory Framework for Peer-to-Peer Lending Industry in Thailand : A Consultation Paper Issued by the Bank of Thailand

The Peer-to-Peer Lending Industry in Thailand Peer-to-peer lending, which is also known as social lending or crowdlending, has drastically increased in the recent years in many countries around the world. The total volume of peer-to-peer lending activities has been growing rapidly. A good example is… Read More

Brian Korn Says CFPB on the Offensive with CashCall Action & More

Brian Korn, a prominent attorney in the alternative finance sector, says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is on the offensive. Korn pointed to recent settlements with LendUp and CashCall as indicative of its aggressive approach towards financial service enforcement. At the end of 2013,… Read More

When You Use a Bomb to Swat a Fly: A Response to the Proposal of Banning SAFEs in Crowdfunding

This article is a response to the draft paper referenced in the article entitled “Crowdfunding and the Not-So-Safe SAFE” authored by Joseph M. Green and John F. Coyle. There are many so words to describe my thoughts about the paper: patronizing, impractical, misguided—but mostly, unfortunate. One… Read More

Fundera: Online Lenders Need to Get Serious About Disclosure

Fundera is an online platform that streamlines the borrowing process. They have integrated a diverse group of online lenders to allow small businesses the ability to apply on one site and receive offers from multiple direct lenders. No more trudging down to the local bank… Read More

Is the SAFE Not So Safe for Investment Crowdfunding?

Earlier this year, on May 16, 2016, the final portion of the JOBS Act became actionable. The much anticipated Title III provisions and Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) went into effect, marking the official beginning of retail crowdfunding in the United States. While the industry is… Read More

Regulation A+ Offering: Hype or Reality?

Jobs creation and wages are in the spotlight again by voter demand this presidential election year and receiving attention from both Republican and Democratic parties. This begs the question whether an improved version of Regulation A under the JOBs Act of 2012 offers a practical… Read More

National Crowdfunding Association of Canada Criticizes Integrated Crowdfunding Exemption in Letter to Alberta Securities Commission

The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA), has criticized Canada’s regulatory approach to crowdfunding in a public letter sent to the Alberta Securities Commission and Superintendent of Securities, Nunavut.  While the letter is addressed to the two entities it can be viewed as a proxy… Read More

Non Profits are Thinking About Crowdfunding All Wrong

We don’t do crowdfunding. I can’t tell you how often I hear these words, spoken with such confidence, by the head of a major non-profit. I’ve come to realize there are many reasons for this initial hesitation, and it’s a combination of many things, but… Read More

EU Report: No Strong Case to Create Synchronized Framework for Investment Crowdfunding

File this one under recently discovered, but the European Commission published a report earlier this year that pretty much crushed any hope for a more synchronized approach for debt and equity crowdfunding across Europe. As highlighted in the editorial by Alessandro Lerro earlier this week,… Read More

European Union Stops Harmonization Process for Crowdfunding Rules

At Crowddialogue Europe in Graz, Austria last week, a panel presentation, moderated by Ronald Kleverlaan, inquired about the status of the European legislation on crowd-investing. Looking back to 2014, with the EU Commission’s Communication “Unleashing the Potential of Crowdfunding”, soon followed by the 2015 Communication “Action Plan… Read More

Bank of England Embraces Fintech & Collaboration

“It is hardly possible to overrate the value…of placing human beings in contact with persons dissimilar to themselves, and with modes of thought and action unlike those with which they are familiar…such communication has always been…one of the primary sources of progress.” –John Stuart Mill… Read More

A Personal Perspective on Title III Investment Crowdfunding

“So why did you leave law to pursue crowdfunding?” Over the past couple years, I’ve received this question more than any other.  Prior to starting NextSeed in 2014, I was a lawyer for over 7 years specializing in private equity fund formation and private investments. … Read More

EU Commissioner Talks CMU, Alternative Finance Following Brexit

EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis replaced Jonathan Hill of the UK at the Commission following the Brexit decision. He recently sat down with CNBC for an interesting interview where he shared some insight into his perspective on the Capital Markets Union (CMU) in light of the UK EU… Read More

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