Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a report on the initial coin offering (ICO) of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (the DAO), which raised almost $150 million from investors using this new capital raising method (before returning the money); the report explained that the SEC views this ICO as a sale of securities and that the DAO was in violation of securities laws, though no enforcement action was taken. Source
The House Financial Service Committee (HSFC) is promoting small business investment and growth through six new bills; provisions include an expansion of venture capital fund investing, changes to the number of shares available for employees at privately-held companies and more responsive action by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in findings and recommendations by the SEC's Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. Source
The SEC Small Business Advocate Act of 2016 (HR3784) was signed into law; the law will add a new office within the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for small business advocacy; the small business advocacy office will oversee and support regulation and investment activities for small businesses and small business investors; the new law will also establish a small business capital formation advisory committee that will advise the SEC on small business market activity. Source
PeerIQ's weekly newsletter provides insight from a week in Washington, D.C. beginning with the SEC's Fintech Forum on Monday, November 14; Ram Ahluwalia participated as a panelist providing an industry perspective on the "Capital Formation" panel; newsletter also provides details on potential terms from the OCC in their fintech charter and highlights three bills affecting fintech; PeerIQ also discusses the effect of capital and liquidity rules on asset-backed securities from banks. Source
Yesterday the Investor Advisory Committee of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) met to discuss, among other things, updating the...
Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released a report on the Initial Coin Offering (“ICO”) of the Decentralized...
The Securities and Exchange Commission's 2016 Annual Report on Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSROs) notes increased rating activity for marketplace lending; says smaller NRSROs have increased market share by rating marketplace lending securitizations; rating agencies issuing ratings for marketplace lending transactions included KBRA, Fitch, S&P, Moody's and DBRS; of the 28 rated marketplace lending transactions in 2016, DBRS rated 28.6%, KBRA rated 25.0%, Moody's rated 25.0%, Fitch rated 7.1% and S&P rated 3.6%. Source
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested that Lending Club provide increased disclosure on its loan portfolio and sources of funds also suggesting they improve non-GAAP reporting which is potentially misleading for investors; Lending Club has agreed to provide more disclosure and evolved its SEC filings accordingly however it has defended its non-GAAP accounting procedures, reporting it did not see the measures as misleading; recent requests for added disclosure as a publicly traded company are included in the SEC's last correspondence on November 4; the items remain open and the SEC's most recent correspondence is in addition to its review of the company following the replacement of its CEO in May. Source
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a financial government agency overseen by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, held a fintech forum discussing the industry; industry speakers included Ram Ahluwalia from PeerIQ and Matt Burton from Orchard; SEC speakers included Mary Jo White and Michael Piwowar; Mary Jo White focused on fintech responsibility suggesting thorough testing of various aspects of the business before introduction; Michael Piwowar focused on fintech sandbox testing and suggested that the SEC should be the lead agency regulating fintech; in an announcement on Monday, Mary Jo White also said she would be leaving her role in January. Source
Long time followers of the p2p lending space will remember Loanio.com. They were the victims of unfortunate timing when they...