According to a report from GlobalCapital, Jefferies and Lending Club are partnering on a new securitization for Arcadia Funds; the portfolio is expected to include approximately $300 million of prime consumer loans from Lending Club. Source
S&P Global Market Intelligence has released data on fourth quarter and 2016 originations for 13 major online lenders; the final quarter of 2016 showed a decrease in loan originations consistent with challenges for the industry in the second half of the year; in the fourth quarter total loan originations were down 15% however loan originations for the year still reported a 15% increase. Source
Aaron Hughes, Managing Director of Equiniti Riskfactor, provides insight on the growth of the UK receivables market; the market now has 40,000 to 45,000 clients; with a growing number of clients the industry is focusing on new technologies for greater efficiency and processing; Aaron Hughes says Equiniti Riskfactor is also testing a blockchain prototype for receivables finance that can even further advance platform efficiency. Source
Singapore-based marketplace lender MoolahSense has added invoice financing; the service will provide another lending product for businesses; the firm's CEO says the product is intended to extend the business services it provides to underserved small businesses; the product will be available for short-term capital needs of up to $15,000 and is expected to target returns of 12% for investors. Source
SMB lender Lendflow announced a partnership with Ocrolus to determine borrowers' viability and provide critical access to capital.
Pepper Hamilton provides details on their recent podcast and webinar in their featured blog post; the firm's January 5 podcast provided insight on what the Donald Trump presidency means for the financial services industry; on January 24 the firm provided a webinar on factors for considering the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's new fintech charter. Sponsored Blog Post
Estimated return for December 2016 production is 6.45%; PMI7, Prosper's underwriting model, was put in place late December, 2016; models are updated every 12 to 18 months; average FICO was higher than lows in 2015 and 2016 but is expected to decrease with an increase in lower grade loans as a result of the new credit risk model; prepayment rates increased and delinquency rates were lower; cumulative gross charge offs have increased but are expected to trend lower. Source
Chinese regulators raided over 40 companies in China to investigate for illegal activities pertaining to the country's newly disseminated laws; investigators found property agents listing homes that owners had not agreed to sell and providing false information about properties; with a focus on real estate property investing, the investigators also found P2P lenders offering down payment loans after they were recently restricted by regulators. Source
Lending Club and Prosper allow for tax efficient investing on their platforms through an IRA; Lend Academy provides details on opening an IRA with Lending Club or Prosper and explains why investing in P2P lending is best done through an IRA. Source
Ablrate was recently authorized by the FCA and is now launching their custom Innovative Finance ISA; Ablrate offers a self-select marketplace where investors hand pick the loans they look to invest in; this is one of many products the company will launch in this arena; Ablrate facilitates asset-backed loans with specialization in aircraft and capital equipment; they currently will take cash deposits for their IFISA but no transfers as David Bradley-Ward, CEO of Ablrate, tells AltFi, "We want to be able to get everyone going with their IFISA first and then allow transfers in from other providers after the first week of our launch." Source