Tagged: perspective

Innovate Finance Responds to Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Statement

Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO of Innovate Finance, welcomed Chancellor of the Exchequer,  Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement delivered to Parliament today. Wintermeyer said he was “pleased to see a focus on investment, productivity, and digital innovation”. Innovate Finance had called for the UK government to advance on… Read More

SEC Commissioner Piwowar: “The Great Potential of Fintech Should Not Be Hindered by Our Current Regulatory Structure”

As a growing number of nations around the globe embrace the potential of Fintech to provide superior services to consumers, businesses and the under-banked, one country stands out as lacking in leadership in the evolution of finance. The US has been the epicenter of financial… Read More

The Development of Investment Crowdfunding in South Korea

The Amendments to the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (the Capital Markets Act) passed the South Korean Parliament in July 2015 and went into effect on January 25th, 2016, laying the framework for investment crowdfunding in South Korea. The adoption of investment crowdfunding… Read More

Unstacking the Deck Against SME’s in Washington: A Call for an SEC Small Business Advocate

With a new administration set to take the reins of power in the White House in January 2017, not to mention a new, Republican appointed Chair of the SEC in the offing, when it comes to the interests of small business’s access to capital, many… Read More

Paul Atkins on Trump’s Transition Team for Financial Appointments is a Very Good Sign for Fintech

It has been widely reported that Paul Atkins, a former SEC Commissioner and current CEO of Patomak Partners, is the point person in Donald Trump’s transition team for financial regulatory appointments. This is an encouraging sign. Atkins, a Vanderbilt Law School Grad, was an SEC… Read More

Why We Need to Address Crowdfunding Education Now

If crowdfunding as a means to improve access to capital for entrepreneurs, small business owners and creatives turns out only to be an ideology, it will be the result of a lack of effective education. By my definition, crowdfunding is human beings connected and empowered… Read More

One Way Donald Trump Can Actually Double GDP Growth

How Donald Trump Can Leverage Crowdfunding Under Reg CF to Double GDP Growth President-elect Trump made it a hallmark of his campaign to double GDP growth. According to Karen Kerrigan, President of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council; “His agenda of lowering taxes, simplifying the… Read More

Why Donald Trump Won the Presidential Election: What It Means & What We Need to Do

Many people feel deeply hurt from the outcome of the Presidential election. Here’s a kinder, simpler explanation as to why. This week, we saw a completely unexpected outcome in the Presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. As the punditry and chattering classes scramble… Read More

What Does a Trump Presidency Mean for Fintech?

Soon the dust will will settle and the collective surprise of a Donald Trump Presidency will sink in and the United States will move forward. On top of a populist Trump administration, the Republican Party will control both houses of Congress. This is a combination… Read More

CCA: Bigger Social Network = More Money Raised Crowdfunding

The Regulation CF market is only a few months old but data on successful crowdfunding campaigns is starting to percolate to the surface.  Reg CF, created by Title III of the JOBS Act, allows small and emerging companies the ability to raise up to $1… Read More

Equity Crowdfunding Evangelist Victoria Silchenko: We Have Witnessed Unprecedented Growth in Alternative Finance

Victoria Silchenko has been a staunch propopent of the benefits of crowdfunding and alternative finance since day one. The founder of Metropole Capital Group and the Global Alternative Funding Forum, an annual event that brings together many prominent names in the Fintech sector, Silchenko has charted… Read More

SEC Adopts Modernized Intrastate “Crowdfunding” Rules:  A Time to Yawn?

On October 26, 2016, the SEC’s three Commissioners convened at their headquarters to adopt new rules intended to modernize what had historically been a little used path of raising capital for startups, early stage businesses and community-based enterprises: the so called intrastate exemption. It had… Read More

When It Comes to Retail Crowdfunding, SAFEty First

A Reply on the Use of SAFEs in Crowdfunding On September 22nd, Crowdfund Insider published a post summarizing the arguments presented in our new essay entitled “Crowdfunding and the Not-So-Safe SAFE“ (forthcoming in Virginia Law Review Online). Our essay raises a number of concerns about… Read More

Bruce Davis, MD of Abundance, Shares Insight & Perspective on FCA Regulatory Review

Bruce Davis is a founder and Joint Managing Director at Abundance, a peer to peer investing platform focused on renewable energy projects. He is also part of the original team that launched Zopa – the very first peer to peer lending platform to set up… Read More

A Pretty Insane Internal Rate of Return for AngelList Investors

Investing in early stage companies is a risky venture. The advent of internet finance has made it easier than ever before to gain access to purchasing securities in startups.  Correspondingly, the debate regarding risk versus return has always been a very hot topic. Recently Crowdfund… Read More

Massive Rule 147 Amendments May Be On The Horizon Impacting Intrastate Crowdfunding

Almost a year ago, the SEC proposed certain amendments to the current Rule 147 which were intended to help foster, and increase the viability of, Intrastate crowdfunding. While little has been heard about these amendments since their release (except from Intrastate proponents like me of… Read More

Title III Crowdfunding Might Not Be What Many Expected

I have been immersed in the equity crowdfunding industry since late 2015 and have tried to collect as many different perspectives on the industry from as many experts as possible. And while it is hard to predict the ultimate fate of an industry that had… Read More

FINRA Allegedly Warns Off Reg CF Portals on Use of Trusts for Escrow

FINRA is a non-governmental entity that acts as a financial regulator over a wide swath of the financial industry.  Their mission is to detect and prevent wrongdoing in the US financial markets. FINRA also has enforcement powers. Last year alone they rendered over 1500 disciplinary… Read More

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

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