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
Looking into the statistics of gambling is illuminating and depressing. The UK, where gambling is more widely accepted than in the US, sees rates of 40-60% across all adults according to 2016 research. Revenues for casinos are over $100 billion annually, and global gambling revenues, including sports betting and the national lotteries, amount to over $400 billion. That's like the equivalent of the entire software cloud industry. And it asymmetrically addicts and disadvantages the already disadvantaged (see academic research here, here, and here).
The current definition for accredited investors was established back in 1982; since then little has changed and to be an...
Gizmodo shares the story of an ICO operated by Sohrab “Sam” Sharma and Robert Farkas; the company paid for endorsements from Floyd Mayweather Jr. and DJ Khaled and also lied about relationships with Visa, Bancorp and MasterCard; Centra Tech also lied about executives at the company who were allegedly made up people; the ICO was listed on exchanges such as Binance and Cryptopia; the filing asks the operators to return the money they received and aims to prevent them from serving as officers of a public company or participate in any securities offering; Farkas was arrested before trying to leave the country. Source
The proper definition of cryptocurrencies has stumped US regulators, many believe it has affected development. This year could bring clarity.
The SEC is easing restrictions on reporting requirements and will also accelerate the approval of crowdfunding listings; the goal is...
I first wrote about the GAO report on p2p lending last year. The GAO have been doing an analysis of...
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
Concerned about innovation draining from the US many are calling for clear crypto legislation, but what would it take?
I was chatting with a friend of mine over the weekend who has just inherited a small amount from her...