LendIt Co-Founder Peter Renton sits down with Mike Baliman of the London Fintech Podcast; Peter talks about the key themes across the US including the capital challenges of 2016, securitizations and the Lending Club incident; they also discuss the China market, its size and some of the misconceptions about the P2P lending industry there. Source
Prosper released its October 2016 performance report with the month's estimated return of 7.12% just below the estimate of 7.17% for the third quarter; in October, vintage prepayment rates continued to trend higher; delinquencies and loss patterns since 2013 are below levels in 2012; cumulative gross charge-offs appear to be a factor trending higher; average FICO of the portfolio was 714.1 in October. Source
The Department of Justice's case against Quicken Loans will be heard in Detroit; in an ongoing case filed in April 2015, the Department of Justice says Quicken Loans used faulty underwriting processes to certify Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans while disregarding FHA rules; Quicken is a direct endorsement lender for the FHA and the loans in the court case were originated from September 2007 through December 2011. Source
In an article from The Financial Brand they highlight the opportunity for banks and credit unions as millennials reach adulthood, warning that failing to crack the "millennial code" of what makes millennials unique may be fatal to lending opportunities; there are many promising statistics including an estimated 86 million potential millennial customers; according to the US Census Bureau, by 2028 millennials will become the majority of peak and legacy profit groups. Source
Factor 21 has done a management buyout with funding from Mobeus; the private equity firm provided a 9 million british pound funding line for the buyout; Jonathan Gregory of Mobeus will join Factor 21 as investor director; Factor 21 has been in business for over 15 years and has provided invoice funding of over 2 billion british pounds; the management buyout funding will help the firm grow business at its two regional offices. Source
According to the Wall Street Journal, former Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche has started a new online lender called Credify; the company has setup offices in the financial district of San Francisco and was incorporated less than a month after leaving Lending Club; former Lending Club executives Jeff Bogan and Adelina Grozdanova have also joined the new company; it plans to make its first loans in 2017. Source
Marketplace lender, Peerform, has been acquired by Versara Lending; Versara is a New York City-based consumer lender seeking to expand its lending business in consumer loans; Peerform will enhance the lending capabilities for Versara and Peerform Founder Mikael Rapaport will join Versara Lending as a senior vice president. Source
Zopa has announced it plans to apply for banking licenses; company will be the first alternative finance platform to seek licensing as a bank; CEO Jaidev Janardana wrote to clients on Wednesday with details on the company's plans; Zopa will seek to offer deposit accounts and new lending products; requires Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority licenses which the company expects to take 15 to 24 months. Source
The partnership with Sino Guarantee will provide lending capital of RMB 500 million to China Rapid Finance also helping the marketplace lender to develop and offer lending products on wealth management platforms; Bank of Shanghai will also provide capital support as well as payment channels and fund custody services. Source
