Tagged: perspective

UK Funding for Lending Scheme Continues to Fail in Mission. Funding Circle Says “Banks Are Not The Answer”

The Bank of England has released its most recent data on the Funding for Lending program, an initiative that is supposed to compel banks to lend to business.  According to the BOE figures, lending is in decline; “Net lending by FLS Extension participants to all… Read More

The JOBS Act, Crowdfinance & Building Social Consensus: Are Investors Unnecessarily at Risk?

Is the JOBS Act Title II ecosystem being built around the art of the “con” by some Internet funding platforms and companies raising money on these platforms?  The answer seems to be yes, judging by investment advice provided by Morningstar, FINRA, psychologists, and business world… Read More

Commissioner Aguilar Sets Goals: “The Commission Should Adopt Final Rules..”

While SEC Chair presented a state of SEC type presentation, Commissioner Aguilar has jumped in and put some more meat on the bones.  Speaking at the annual Practicing Law Institute gathering, Aguilar set forth his perceived goals for the SEC for 2015. While touching base… Read More

The CNBC Crowdfinance 50 Index: When an Investor “Commitment” is Just a Kiss 

  In July 2013 the SEC implemented Title II of the JOBS Act of 2012 through Rule 506(c) of Regulation D, which for the first time in over 80 years allowed companies to engage in general solicitation of investors in an unregistered private placement so… Read More

Lawsuit against Crowdfunding Platforms Signals the Urgent Need for Patent Reform

Crowdfunding platforms just became the latest target for patent trolls – entities that purchase patents, not to produce any goods or services, but to threaten and file infringement suits and attempt to collect licensing fees. Take the case of AlphaCap Ventures, LLC, a company that… Read More

Crowd Investors Corner: Become a Player

It’s that time of the week where Crowd Investors Corner serves up another due diligence tip in hopes of helping a new breed of retail investors, known as investumers, make more informed investment decisions. Today’s suggestion is sprinkled with fun as it entails channeling one’s inner… Read More

The End of P2P Lending as We Know It? Or an Exciting New Phase? Industry Pushes to Become “Marketplace Lending”

Reading the FT’s recent (29th January) piece by Tracy Alloway and Emma Dunkley entitled ‘Rebranded P2P revolutionaries form ties with traditional lenders’, my initial reaction was to be rather saddened that some of the biggest names in the alternative lending market of which we’re a… Read More

Rebuke FT? What’s Your Beef with Alternative Finance?

I’m no lawyer but if it were about a firm or an individual I think it would probably be a libel to re-characterise the content of yesterday’s FCA report and their comments on Equity Crowdfunding as either a ‘rebuke’ or a ‘crackdown’. This is deeply… Read More

One Month into 2015: Die, Survive or Thrive? What Platforms Will Be The Winners of 2015?

One month into 2015 and we’ve seen a lot of predictions being made.  But what is much harder to predict than exponential growth, is a selection of crowdfunding platforms that will be the winners of 2015! What are the platforms that we’ll have to watch… Read More

The Interrelationship Between Failure, Fraud and Execution

Anyone who has been reading my articles over the years knows that I have been on a fervent mission to help develop a practicable framework for unaccredited investor crowdfinancing. One of the reasons for my vehemence is that I am a staunch advocate of “investing… Read More

“Is it a Crowd? Is it a Herd? Is it a Problem?” How Informed Startup (Crowd) Investors Really Are.

Welcome to the Jungle New York City, 1968. Busy street. A group of people have stopped on the sidewalk to look up at a window on the 6th floor of the adjacent office building. No one is in plain sight. No one is trying to… Read More

Niederer: Unaccredited Equity Crowdfunding Needs to Have Light Touch Investor Regulation to be Successful

Paul Niederer is not one to mince words. Having been around the block more than once, Niederer gives good advice.  When it comes to new forms of finance he speaks from experience, not just unhindered opinion.  The Australian Small Scale Offerings Board (ASSOB), a company… Read More

The Funding Cap on Title III Retail Crowdfunding is Pointless. 

As we start the beginning of 2015, expectations are increasing that final rules for both Title IV and Title III crowdfunding will finally be released to the public with the first offers commencing later in 2015.  Yes there are many questions regarding the final rules… Read More

Crowd Investors Corner: Size Matters

According to a recently released white paper by Offerboard – a leading online marketplace for private placements – as a result of the implementation of Title II of the JOBS Act, the number of Reg D investors increased 50% over historical averages during the past… Read More

Commissioner Gallagher: Are the US Capital Markets Competitive?

    Though time has seemingly stood still on JOBS Act rulemaking at the SEC nearly one thousand days after its passage, the world continues to complete a full rotation every 24 hours – and it seems that the rest of the world is passing… Read More

For Most Firms, Old-Style Banking Isn’t Coming Back

Let’s start with what won’t happen in business lending. Politicians and pressure groups love to opine that we need a return to branch-based local ‘Bank Managers’, who knew each customer personally and made lending decisions on a firm handshake. However attractive this nostalgia, most small… Read More

Lending Club IPO: A Watershed Moment for Peer to Peer Lending

  As far as the peer-to-peer or marketplace lending industry is concerned, 2014 ended with a bang and not a whimper as Lending Club, the leading online lender, completed its initial public offering. On December 10, 2014 the Lending Club offering went effective, and ultimately… Read More

Paul Niederer on Crowdfunding Regulations: Regulators & Legislators Often Have No Expertise in Small Business & Startup Ecosystem

Paul Niederer, founder of the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board (ASSOB) and crowdfunding protagonist, has tackled the global regulatory regimes around the world as they attempt to create rules for the new forms of finance. Niederer criticizes most approaches stating: “The [regulatory] implementation balance to… Read More

Every Time a Bell Rings, an Angel [Investor] Gets its Wings: The SEC meets It’s a Wonderful Life

With reports that the final rule-making dates for Titles III and IV of the JOBS Act have been pushed back once again (potentially as late as October 2015), it’s as if the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped a giant piece of coal in our… Read More

Angels of Innovation: Every Great Company Starts With an Angel or Two…

The lifeblood of online investment platforms is investment.  That’s not to take anything away from the brilliant and dedicated entrepreneurs who bravely dance on the cutting edge of industry.  But let’s face it, an idea without funding will flicker and then burn out like a… Read More

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