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
Bond Street is partnering with NerdWallet to develop small business lending resources to educate small businesses on its loans; resources will include service from NerdWallet's Small Business Loan Tool as well as guides and webinars on marketplace lending and small business planning; with the partnership, Bond Street intends to more broadly market and service small business lenders with its loan offerings which range from $10,000 to $1 million. Source
BondMason has increased its minimum investment for new investors from GBP1,000 ($1,278) to GBP5,000 ($6,392) and will institute the change for existing clients beginning on July 31; a new tiered fee structure will also be introduced beginning on May 31 for all investors; according to BondMason's CEO Stephen Findlay, "This structure puts us in line with other investment services and is to reflect our commitment to client services, which was sadly proving uneconomic for clients with smaller balances."; BondMason's service allows UK investors to invest in multiple marketplace loans through a single account. Source
BondMason has launched a new self-invested personal pension (SIPP) service; the service provides for tax efficient retirement investing and the platform allows investors to invest in loans from across the UK's most competitive P2P platforms; "For this SIPP offering, we've worked with pension administrators to create a product which benefits from our due diligence process and the selection of only the best loans from the best P2P platforms," says BondMason CEO Stephen Findlay. Source
Estonia-based marketplace lender, Bondora, has announced plans for a new business model and system design that will change the way the company services its borrowers and investors; the changes will involve a new system design for borrowers and investors; according to Bondora, splitting the business into two separate parts will allow for greater pricing efficiency and better reporting and analytics. Source
Bondora has reported that it will not be opening an office in London due to post-Brexit effects; instead it will open a new office in Germany; Bondora CEO, Partel Tomberg, says he is uncertain about European market access in London; Bondora CFO says German regulators including Bafin are increasingly opening up to supporting innovation in the financial sector. Source
The Estonian-based P2P lender turned a profit late 2016; hopes to turn an annual profit in 2017; revenues were 4.2 million euros (USD $4.5 million) in 2016; according to CEO Partel Tomberg: "Looking at the bigger picture, we were a bit looking for our place. We have tried a number of products, businesses and client segments over the years. By mid-2016 we understood that our focus has to be on what we started from – a faster and cheaper consumer loan product. And we understood that on the investment side it has to be an online product for the people, not so much for the banks or funds." Source
Luxury assets lender Borro has raised 5.6 million British pounds ($6.93 million) in new equity capital; firm received Financial Conduct Authority authorization in 2016 and reported business growth of 30%; the funding will help support the firm's balance sheet lending; since 2011, firm has lent 230 million British pounds ($286 million). Source
Madden v. Midland has been proceeding since 2015; Judge Cathy Seibal of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a decision in the case on February 27; Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP provides their insight on the court's decision; the central focus of the case is on the inconsistency between the issuing lender (New York) and Midland Funding, the debt collector, (Delaware); the judge ruled in favor of the borrower in default setting a precedent for better alignment between rates of issuing lenders and the loan's affiliated debt collectors. Source
BorrowersFirst has secured $100 million in new debt funding from Waterfall Asset Management; firm will use the funding primarily to support lending volume growth for its online consumer loan business; firm funds its loans through on-balance sheet debt facilities and whole loan sales with originations by Cross River Bank. Source