Tagged: regulations

Crowdfunding Portals or Broker Dealers: Department of Treasury Amends Definition of Broker Dealers to Accommodate Title III Platforms

The US Department of Treasury, via the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), has published a proposed rule change that impacts the definition of a funding portal under Title III of the JOBS Act. This new rule-making would amend some definitions to include funding portals. Specifically,… Read More

SEC Chair Mary Jo White Addresses the Challenges of Fintech, Pre-IPO Finance in the Heart of Silicon Valley

During the keynote address at Stanford’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance at the event entitled “The Silicon Valley Initiative: Protecting Investments in Pre-IPO Issuers”, SEC Chair Mary Jo White delivered a wide ranging speech on the challenges of operating in the internet fueled age of finance…. Read More

Reg A+: A Successful First Year Despite Regulatory Ambiguities 

The “democratization of investment” in historically closed industries have been the buzzwords of choice since the JOBS Act was signed into to law in 2012. But only since March 25, 2015, when the SEC voted to adopt the proposed rules implementing Title IV, was access… Read More

Minister of Economy Gives French Crowdfunding Sector a Boost

The French Minister of Economy, Emmanuel Macron was the guest star of the 3rd annual meeting of the French crowdfunding association. He expressed his commitment to the crowdfunding economy, shared his views on the regulation of innovation, and, to prove his point, announced several significant… Read More

Oral Arguments in Reg A+ Case Against SEC Scheduled for April 14th

The lawsuit against the SEC targeting the updated exemption called Reg A+ will take another step forward next month as oral arguments are scheduled to be heard in the US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia. The case known as Monica J. Lindeen, Montana State… Read More

Engine to SEC: Have You Checked Out How the Brits Define an Accredited Investor?

Engine, an advocacy group based in San Francisco that promotes policy that supports all of the cool technology bubbling up from the most creative community in the world, has added their $0.02 to the debate regarding the definition of an Accredited Investor. The discussion regarding… Read More

The Netherlands is Set to Update Debt & Equity Crowdfunding Rules

On April 1st, the regulatory environment for investment crowdfunding will change in the Netherlands. The Netherlands Authority for Financial Markets (AFM) published recommendations in December of 2014 regarding a regulatory approach for internet finance. A proposal was released back in December that was summarily updated the… Read More

 View from the UK: Why the Alternative Finance Industry Needs Greater Regulation

  The global alternative finance industry has undergone staggering growth in recent years. In 2015 combined market activity in the UK grew 84% from £1.74bn the year before to £3.2bn. Around 20,000 SMEs raised approximately £2.2bn in funding through online channels, representing a year-on-year growth… Read More

Imitation is Flattery: Reg A+ Innovations in eREITs & Beyond

The RECF (real estate crowdfunding) community has been keenly interested in finding creative ways to use the new Regulation A+ that came into effect earlier last year. However, not all filings have been successful or made much business sense. Last year, I wrote about Groundfloor’s… Read More

Asia Pacific Research: Dramatic Growth in Alternative Finance is Fueled by Huge China Market

The Asia-Pacific Alternative Finance Benchmarking Report has just been published and it highlights the largest region in the world for disruptive finance. Entitled, “Harnessing Potential”, this is the first report for the region and has been created by a partnership of researchers, including the Cambridge… Read More

Letter: Financial Stability Board to Evaluate “Systemic Risk” Posed by Fintech Innovation

The Financial Stability Board seeks to evaluate the potential for systemic risk posed by emerging innovations in financial technology, a move which may mark the beginning of the end to the regulatory advantages enjoyed by fintech firms operating at the fringes of the financial services sector, according… Read More

Chinese Peer to Peer Lending Industry Does Not Need More Rules

Following the much-talked-about Ezubao $7.6 billion Ponzi scheme collapse at the end of last year, the perception and outlook of the Chinese online lending industry has grown increasingly negative both within and outside of China. Murmurs of regulation began floating around in early 2014 but… Read More

Paul Niederer Calls Australian Crowdfunding Legislation a “Complete Mismatch”

The Australian Senate referred the provisions of the Corporations Amendment Bill 2015 (or Crowd-sourced Funding as it is called)  to the Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by February 22nd, which was then extended until February 29th. The proposed bill has come under pointed criticism… Read More

Will Big P2P Lenders Be Regulated in Time for the Innovative Finance ISA?

The forthcoming Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) launches on April 6, 2016.  This new savings vehicle is expected to drive value for both investors and peer to peer lenders alike.  For investors, the benefit is a better risk-adjusted return. All peer to peer lenders deliver far… Read More

The United Kingdom is the Fintech Capital of the World

In a report published today by HM Treasury, in partnership with EY, the UK declared global domination in the world of Fintech. The UK has consistently punched above its weight-class when it has come to financial innovation.  The Brits have benefited from elected officials that… Read More

Goji CEO Says FCA & HMRC Must Align on Innovative Finance ISA

Jake Wombwell-Povey, CEO & co-founder of Goji Holdings – a service provider for P2P platforms offering Innovative Finance ISAs (IFISA), has shared a comment letter submitted to HM Revenue & Customs.  According to the missive, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and HMRC are not quite… Read More

Verification of International Accredited Investors: What You Need to Do

International investors have always played an important role in providing capital to private placement offers.  The private placement market under Regulation D is enormous. Since Title II made actionable by the SEC in September of 2013, until the end of 2014, over $1.5 trillion in… Read More

ASSOB Tells the Australian Government What is Wrong About Proposed Equity Crowdfunding Rules

New regulations designed to facilitate investment crowdfunding are weaving their way through the rule making process in Australia. Recently proposed rules have engendered both support and criticism. This past December, the Aussie Senate referred the updated proposal of the “Crowd-Sourced Funding Bill” to the Economics… Read More

The 2016 International State of Play of Retail Equity Crowdfunding

  The recent changes in the retail equity crowdfunding regulatory environment make this a useful time to take stock of the international landscape and compare regimes between countries. Some countries have moved faster than others, and different countries have taken different approaches to regulation, ranging… Read More

UK Alternative Finance Grows by 84% to £3.2 Billion in 2015

    The University of Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance and Nesta have released their much-anticipated report on alternative forms of finance tracking results for 2015. The research was completed in partnership with KPMG and with the support of CME Group Foundation. Entitled”Pushing Boundaries”, the… Read More

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