Tagged: perspective

October 1, 2016 @ 3:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

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

September 27, 2016 @ 12:01 pm By Amy Wan  |  

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

September 24, 2016 @ 6:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

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

September 22, 2016 @ 2:32 pm By Joe Green & John Coyle  |  

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

September 21, 2016 @ 12:19 pm By Bruce C. Rosetto and Rebecca G. DiStefano  |  

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

September 20, 2016 @ 11:02 am By JD Alois  |  

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

September 19, 2016 @ 9:21 am By Moshe Hecht  |  

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

September 16, 2016 @ 1:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

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

September 14, 2016 @ 4:15 pm By Alessandro M. Lerro  |  

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

September 9, 2016 @ 6:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

“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

September 9, 2016 @ 12:30 pm By Youngro Lee  |  

“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

September 3, 2016 @ 4:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

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

August 30, 2016 @ 4:43 pm By Oleg Seydak  |  

In recent weeks, marketplace lenders have hit a rough patch. Once the darlings of Wall Street, they have now come under fire, after a string of internal scandals and disappointing earnings. For the traditional banks – who have been saying, “we need to disrupt these… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 9:04 am By Jason Best  |  

As any entrepreneur knows, when you are creating something new, there are no shortage of naysayers.  Among the 3 types of clients we work with (investors, corporates and financial regulators) the regulators tend to look at new things most skeptically.  But, of the many questions… Read More

August 28, 2016 @ 5:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

Steven Dresner of Dealflow.com is one of the regular suspects in the online capital formation sector.  He has been an active voice and participant in the shift to leverage the power of the internet to make capital formation more efficient. Working with broker-dealers and other… Read More

August 25, 2016 @ 3:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

Publishing on the pages of American Banker, Todd Baker has written off the entire industry of marketplace lending. Baker states, “it should be obvious now that marketplace lending is unsustainable.” A pretty strong statement for a sector of alternative finance that has, until recently, experienced… Read More

August 25, 2016 @ 12:11 am By JD Alois  |  

Apple, Google, Amazon, PayPal & Intuit Provide the Firepower Behind Fintech Advocacy Group Financial Innovation Now. Back in the fall of 2015, an announcement was made regarding the creation of a new public policy coalition representing some of the largest names in tech: Apple, Google,… Read More

August 22, 2016 @ 12:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

An article in WSJ.com today states the “regulatory advantage may be fleeting” for online lenders. The author pointed to an initiative by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) that may add new rules for banks working with online lenders that could add cost to these… Read More

August 19, 2016 @ 2:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

  A few weeks back Crowdfund Insider published an article on the regulatory environment in Canada that labeled new crowdfunding securities exemptions as “Dead in the Water“.  In brief, regulators in multiple provinces have enacted rules that were ostensibly created to foster entrepreneurship and access… Read More

August 19, 2016 @ 2:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

The youngest financial regulatory agency of them all, the Consumer and Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has announced its new Advisory Board and Council Members. The CFPB, established under Dodd-Frank, was mandated to create these advisory boards and councils. While the various groups were represented by many… Read More