CB Insights has analyzed 1,098 startups which raised capital from 2008 to 2010; only 46% followed with a second funding round and 14% achieved a fourth round of funding; only 10 companies or 0.91% achieved unicorn status with a valuation of $1 billion and approximately 70% of the startups have failed. Source
News Roundup
This page contains an archive of the Global Newsletter summaries and the weekly fintech news roundups.
Every day the Fintech Nexus news team scours the globe for the most important stories of the day to include in our daily newsletter.
Then every Saturday we bring you our weekly news roundup of the top 10 fintech stories of the week with commentary from Peter Renton.
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CreditEase has been reporting significant fintech investment from a range of fintech funds managed by the firm; it announced this week that its CreditEase Wealth Management Offshore Private Credit Fund (OPCF) was investing $30 million in OnDeck and LendingHome and that it also had plans for another Offshore Private Credit Fund (OPCF II) focused on fintech with a $200 million investment target; at LendIt USA 2017 the firm announced three new fintech investments for its CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund (CEFIF) which has $1 billion in total committed capital; it's also investing in Israeli fintech through two funds focused on tech startups in Israel. Source
Kreditech Russia has received Microfinance Company status from the Central Bank of Russia; the approval follows new regulation in Russia that requires the status for increased transparency in the microfinance alternative lending market; Kreditech Russia was established in 2013 and is part of Kreditech Group which was founded in 2012 and has its headquarters in Germany; in 2016, Kreditech Group reported loan origination volume of EUR 125 million ($133.58 million). Source
The Singapore Exchange has closed a deal with online debt and equity crowdfunding platform Crowdo with terms of the deal including support for raising small and medium enterprise (SME) awareness or capital funding availability in Singapore, information sharing and cross-referral of clients; similar deal terms were included in the Singapore Exchange and PwC deal with promotion of the Singapore startup ecosystem a central component of the deal. Source
Manatt provides a roundup on what is going on in financial services law; stories include: Industry Groups Respond on Consumer Access to Financial Records, Home Depot Settles Data Breach Suit for $25M, CFPB Proposes Delay for Prepaid Rule, Payday Lenders Can't Halt Operation Choke Point, Court Rules, and Mortgage Lender Hit With Record HMDA Penalty. Source
UK marketplace lender Landbay has lowered its borrowing rates and fees in an effort to refresh its offerings for buy-to-rent property borrowers; rates for a two-year fixed term loan will now start at 3.39% and rates on a five-year fixed term loan will start at 3.59%; arrangement fees have also been reduced to 1.5% from 1.75%; the firm has also made some changes to its approval criteria; Paul Brett, managing director of intermediaries at Landbay had the following comments: "We are constantly listening to our intermediary partners and to the requirements of the market. Our rates have been reduced across the board to ensure we remain competitive whilst our criteria enables us to serve a wide range of specialist borrowers seeking a fast decision." Source
BlackRock's new investment management executive Mark Wiseman has reorganized the business with a greater focus on automated investing for its active funds; the changes will focus on the actively-managed equities business and include pricing changes and increased use of computer models for active investment funds; the firm's passive investments have helped it grow assets under management to $5.1 trillion however its active fund performance has lagged and in 2016 reported $275.1 billion invested, a decrease from $317.3 billion three years prior. Source
The new agreement with PICC P&C would provide Yirendai with a performance bond for certain loans originated through their marketplace; PICC P&C agreed to reimburse investors should any losses occur because of due diligence issues; Yihan Fang, CEO of Yirendai, said, "We are pleased to begin working with PICC P&C on performance bond. We believe a strong alliance between our two industry-leading companies will enable us to provide higher quality products and services to our customers to better serve the large demand for personal finance." Source
A bankruptcy court filing has caused the share price to drop for BofI however FBR is maintaining its outperform rating; BofI is a banking affiliate to online lender Quick Bridge who is the defendant in a court case in which a plaintiff in bankruptcy is seeking to annul its debt from the lender; the plaintiff is claiming the lending relationship violates state laws and that the loan is not valid. Source
The China Banking Regulatory Authority has mandated that all P2P lenders work with a custodian; a month after the requirement was announced, the majority of industry platforms have still not partnered with a custodian; most Chinese custodian banks do not offer P2P custodian services so the partnerships require added deliberation and communication; a number of new regulations are affecting the industry and it appears Chinese custodian banks will have a significant impact on the future of the industry given the online lenders they choose to partner with for P2P custodian services. Source