LendIt has announced a list of keynote speakers for LendIt USA 2017 on March 6 and 7; keynote speakers will cover the industry's most important topics and innovations; as fintech regulation and a new presidential administration influence the market, LendIt USA 2017 will also be featuring some of the industry's most influential government officials including Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Thomas Curry, comptroller of the currency for the US Department of the Treasury and Patrick McHenry, US congressman. Source
Approved has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding and announced its launch; Approved provides lenders with a solution for moving their lending operations online; the platform technology provides for increased transparency and faster processing times; the company will target established originators seeking to modernize their lending businesses. Source
Lend Academy provides highlights from PeerIQ's Q1 2017 securitization market report in their article; total marketplace lending securitization issuance for the first quarter was $2.9 billion and all of the quarter's securitization deals were rated by a rating agency; SoFi leads the market in securitizations with nearly $9 billion representing 51% of the market's deal value. Source
OnDeck has partnered with institutional data consultant, Orchard, to provide data reporting for institutional investors on its platform; OnDeck is a small business lender with significant investment from institutional investors; through the partnership Orchard will manage the loan reporting for OnDeck's institutional investors and provide investors with access to investor dashboards, portfolio benchmarking, automated daily holdings reports and a variety of customized reporting options held within the Orchard for Originators data system. Source
UK online marketplace lender ThinCats is the latest P2P platform to receive full authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); the firm is a secured business lender and says it has a number of developments in progress including the launch of an IFISA; in comments regarding the authorization, John Mould, CEO of ThinCats, said: "We are delighted to have been granted FCA authorization, proving the dedication of our team and processes. We are very happy that more and more alternative finance providers are now being authorized, as it ultimately proves that the industry deserves the trust and confidence of investors, advisors and SME borrowers alike." Source
P2P-Banking.com has released its monthly report on marketplace lending originations; Funding Circle, RateSetter and Zopa led in December however loan volume for the UK lenders was down from November; Funding Circle originated €114.1 million ($118.92 million), RateSetter originated €68.2 million ($71.08 million) and Zopa originated €60.2 million ($62.74 million); in December Funding Circle's loan volume decreased -14% from November, RateSetter's originations decreased -1% and Zopa's originations decreased -25%.
Money360-affiliate M360 Advisors has registered with the South Korea Financial Supervisory Service; the registration allows institutional investors from South Korea to invest in the firm's real estate fund; the fund invests in secured US commercial real estate properties through bridge loans and offers global investors a high yield fixed income alternative; the fund has already received $65 million from a South Korean institutional investor and is planning for investment of $250 million in the first half of 2017; the fund is managed to provide international tax efficient investing along with high yield fixed income returns and has a number of other foreign investors including investors in China, Singapore, South Africa, Europe, Canada, the Netherlands and Kuwait. Source
CommonBond has created a March Debtness bracket to look at the payoff rates of this year's March Madness basketball teams; the bracket identifies the time it takes for students to pay off their student loans; UCLA is CommonBond's current March Madness winner with the fastest payoff rate at 4.42 years. Source
MoneyLion has raised $22.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Edison Partners; the company will use the funds to improve and expand its mobile application services; the mobile application currently provides customers with tools and advice for managing their finances; it also provides loans. Source
Institutional investors and small banks increased their small business lending in March, according to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index report; institutional lending approvals increased to 63.6% and small bank approvals increased to 48.9%; the approval rate at big banks was unchanged at 24.1%; the approval rate at credit unions decreased to 40.7%; the approval rate at alternative lenders decreased to 58.2%. Source