Tagged: perspective

January 14, 2015 @ 7:54 am By Conrad Ford  |  

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

January 12, 2015 @ 9:33 am By Georgia Quinn  |  

  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

January 5, 2015 @ 7:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

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

December 29, 2014 @ 6:31 am By Jenna Cohen  |  

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

December 26, 2014 @ 6:00 am By Josh Kalish  |  

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

December 24, 2014 @ 6:57 am By Anna Duning  |  

With overwhelming bipartisan support, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act—or the JOBS Act—was signed into law on April 5, 2012, and for entrepreneurs and startup investors, the bill was easily one of the most promising pieces of new legislation to come out of Congress in… Read More

December 16, 2014 @ 7:30 am By Samuel Guzik  |  

As 2014 comes to a close, this is the time of year when all good journalists look back at the year’s events, and then look forward – typically with a list of bold predictions for the year ahead.  For those of you focused on small… Read More

December 15, 2014 @ 11:05 am By Anna Duning  |  

Today, Engine sent a letter signed by more than 200 entrepreneurs, investors, and members of the startup community to the Securities Commission to tell the agency it’s time it fulfills its statutory obligation and finalize rules to make the JOBS Act a reality. You can… Read More

December 10, 2014 @ 6:42 am By Kiran Lingham  |  

  Momentum is building towards a consensus on the highly controversial updates to the accredited investor definition (currently a person who has over $200,000 in income (or $300,000 jointly with spouse) or over $1M in net worth, excluding personal residence). Initially, there was some suggestion… Read More

December 5, 2014 @ 2:04 pm By Dara Albright  |  

A financial revolution – ignited by hordes of individuals who have grown leery of conventional financial institutions, and powered by contemporary P2P and crowdfund marketplaces – has been germinating across the planet. In the same way that the Industrial Revolution redefined manufacturing and the Internet… Read More

December 3, 2014 @ 9:32 am By Samuel Guzik  |  

It could have been the kickoff of a grand political campaign – a slogan that would be proud to adorn a bumper sticker for the most ambitious of politicians – and a sound byte that would be sure to grab the next day’s headlines in… Read More

November 29, 2014 @ 1:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

The week of November 17th should be officially designated “SME Regulatory Week” due to the number of events that occurred in our nation’s Capitol over several days.  The primary draw was the SEC Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. In contrast to past years,… Read More

November 17, 2014 @ 11:08 am By Joe Wallin & Dan Lear  |  

My friend Dan Lear and I wrote the attached letter to Congress to try to encapsulate in one place our various public policy suggestions to help startups. What you will find in the letter are 13 very specific and detailed public policy initiatives that Congress… Read More

November 16, 2014 @ 2:22 pm By Samuel Guzik  |  

Though SEC Commissioners Daniel M. Gallagher and Kara Stein may have travelled on the same plane on the way to the Los Angeles County Bar Association Annual Securities Regulation Conference to address a room of securities industry professionals on October 24, judging by their public… Read More

November 14, 2014 @ 10:14 am By JD Alois  |  

Dr. Richard Swart, of UC Berkeley and Crowdfund Capital Advisors,  recently addressed the Deep Impact Conference in the UK via video to address the hot topic of crowdfunding and regulation.  Swart is a frequent speaker on crowdfunding and is a highly respected researcher on the… Read More

November 13, 2014 @ 10:46 am By Ludwine Dekker  |  

Crowdfunding ­is ‘hot & happening’. So ‘hot & happening’ in fact, that a lot of valid criticism, however badly formulated at times, is discarded. One of the points made that is taken as an outright insult, is the mention that “Crowdfunding is just a drop… Read More

November 7, 2014 @ 11:32 am By Anthony Zeoli  |  

As noted in my prior post, “Draft Bill: Illinois Intrastate Crowdfunding Exemption,” an official draft of my proposed Illinois Intrastate Crowdfunding Exemption was recently finished. To my surprise, people actually read it and I have been getting a lot of questions as to why I… Read More

November 5, 2014 @ 8:11 am By Samuel Guzik  |  

The place was Washington, D.C. The occasion was the Annual Meeting of the Angel Capital Association at the Hilton Hotel in March 2014. Hundreds of attendees were gathered for lunch in the main Ballroom, the largest in the City. The lineup of luncheon speakers was… Read More

November 3, 2014 @ 10:03 am By Georgia Quinn  |  

Recently I participated in the Third Annual Global Crowdfunding Convention and Bootcamp in Las Vegas and Ron Suber, President of Prosper Marketplace, a peer to peer or “marketplace lending” platform, spoke about the nine actions or initiatives that the marketplace lending industry in general and… Read More

October 27, 2014 @ 8:00 am By Samuel Guzik  |  

  The place: Washington, D.C. – the occasion: the swearing in of a new federal agency head – one charged in part with regulating the flow of capital to small businesses.  President Obama and others listened with a hopeful ear. Her words were inspiring, especially… Read More