The New York Department of Financial Services continues to thoroughly investigate the business practices of online lenders; a proposal is in process that would require increased regulation for online lenders; specifically new regulations would be instituted for all lenders making personal loans of $25,000 or less and business loans of $50,000 or less and would also apply to online lenders involved in soliciting loans and buying loans. Source
P2P-Banking has released its monthly report on loan originations; Funding Circle led originations for the month at 106.1 million euros, also reporting a new monthly high; Zopa and Ratesetter also topped the list; Zopa reported monthly loan originations of 85.3 million euros and Ratesetter had loan originations of 63.9 million euros. Source
Peer-to-peer platform Octopus Choice is estimating GBP50 million ($64.08 million) in loans in its first year of business; the platform offers loans secured on residential property with average returns of 4.2% and loan to value ratios of up to 70%; the firm's loans have ranged from GBP95,000 ($121,744) to more than GBP5 million ($6.41 million); the firm has been fully authorized by the FCA and has received its HMRC approval to offer an IFISA. Source
Firm was given full FCA authorization at the beginning of 2017 and expects the IFISA launch to add to high current demand on the platform; says it will target financial advisers with the new offering; the lender has originated over GBP130 million ($169 million) since launching in April 2016; it focuses on secured property loans with conservative loan to value ratios of approximately 60%. Source
Real estate P2P lending platform Octopus Choice has received full authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK; the FCA approval now allows it to begin the process for offering innovative finance individual savings accounts (IFISAs) for investors; the firm has been in business for nine months; it currently provides secured loans to residential property borrowers. Source
Old Mutual has reduced its stake in the VPC Specialty Lending Fund to less than 6%; the Fund's performance has been struggling since September 2016 and it has been steadily shifting to balance sheet investments; over half of the portfolio is now contained in balance sheet investments which is an increase from 43% in June 2016. Source
UK financial services conglomerate Old Mutual is evaluating its ownership in Old Mutual Asset Management (OMAM) and has decreased its ownership share in the company to 51%; HNA and Advent now appear to be the most interested buyers of the asset management business; while OMAM has discussed a buyout with the potential bidders it appears hesitant to proceed with a sale due to relationships with OMAM's affiliated investment boutiques; it is also nearing a minority stake which would change deal discussions; overall the UK's Old Mutual appears to be headed toward a four way selloff of its businesses including: OMAM, a wealth management company in the UK, an insurance business in South Africa and a stake in Nedbank. Source
Small business lender Kabbage is planning for a new equity fundraising, targeting a few hundred million dollars; sources say the lender is considering potential acquisitions including a buyout of OnDeck; Kabbage has reported a number of recent successes including a partnership with Banco Santander, expansion to Ireland and the industry's largest asset-backed securitization of small business loans. Source
Jim Rosenthal will join the board of directors at OnDeck; he was previously the chief operating officer at Morgan Stanley and also served as chairman and CEO; according to OnDeck's CEO Noah Breslow: "Jim is a supremely talented executive whose vision contributed greatly to the success of Morgan Stanley and other organizations. His experience as an innovator at the intersection of technology and financial services, combined with his comprehensive knowledge of financial institutions, will add great value to OnDeck as we build on our leadership as the nation's largest online lender to small businesses." Source
Since launching in 2007, OnDeck has provided over $7 billion in capital to more than 70,000 customers in 700 different industries across the United States, Canada and Australia; creating a new type of commercial loan product for small businesses has been the company's focus since the beginning; its loans support small business activity in the regions it lends and its partnership with JPMorgan is an industry leading example of collaboration between fintechs and banks. Source