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
HNW Lending offers secured loans from 50,000 British pounds ($62,375) to 1 million British pounds ($1.2 million) for a range of assets including planes and classic cars; the firm launched in April 2014 and is now offering the innovative finance individual savings account (IFISA) to its investors after receiving full platform authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority; the minimum investment for the IFISA is 5,000 British pounds ($6,238) and the accounts will target annual returns of 7% to 15%. Source
Prosper filed its annual earnings report with the Securities and Exchange Commission showing an annual loss in 2016 of $118.7 million from revenue of $132.9 million; the loss compares to an annual loss of $26 million for 2015; 2016 was a challenging year for the industry overall; Prosper attributes the losses to lower loan volumes and higher restructuring and legal costs; in February, Prosper reported a $5 billion deal with a consortium of investors committing to invest in Prosper's loans over the next two years, which has helped to give the firm a much more positive outlook for 2017. Source
Media site Bridging & Commercial filed a freedom of information request into the British Business Bank's investments in P2P platforms; since 2014 the British Business Bank has invested 135 million British pounds ($168 million); commitments are made via the Business Finance Partnership Tranche (BFP) and the Investment Programme (IP); the details are outlined in the above chart. Source
Marketplace provides insight on Goldman Sachs' new online lending business discussing the culture and variance from the traditional aspects of the investment bank; one reason for the divergence in culture is the company's focus on building Marcus as a tech startup within the bank; the investment bank's venture has gained considerable industry attention and also attracted talent from leading technology companies including Facebook and Google; it appears to be well positioned in the market with numerous competitive advantages supported by the legacy bank's 147 year history. Source
Cross River Bank has added David Cotney to its board of directors; David Cotney brings in-depth experience in banking regulation and specifically bank chartering to the firm's board of directors; Cotney previously served as commissioner of banks for the Massachusetts Division of Banks where he was responsible for licensing and supervision of state-chartered financial entities; his industry experience also includes roles as chairman of the State Liaison Committee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Source
UK debt crowdfunding platform Property Crowd has announced the launch of its innovative finance individual savings account (IFISA); the minimum investment for the IFISA is 5,000 British pounds ($6,220) and the account will target returns of 7% to 10%; Property Crowd will compete for investment across the alternative debt market however its offerings vary slightly from traditional P2P lenders since the firm's debt products include structured real estate bonds. Source
The graphic above shares the participation of companies in various blockchain consortiums including R3, Digital Asset Holdings, Hyperledger and Ripple; the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) joined R3 last week becoming the first US regulator to join the consortium. Source
Kabbage has reported it will open a new office in Ireland; the geographic expansion follows a 50 million euro ($54 million) investment from the Irish Strategic Investment Fund which is managed by the country's National Treasury Management Agency; the Kabbage lending platform is focused on lending to small businesses and the firm expects to help support the Irish small business sector while also creating many high-quality financial services jobs in Ireland. Source
Goldman Sachs appears to be planning for a robo advisory service offering; the firm is advertising a job posting for a GSAM Technology digital experience developer that would build an automated robo advisory platform complementing the firm's asset management business; the bank's private wealth management business focuses on client's with approximately $50 million in investable assets; it has been broadening its client demographic recently by including business and retail products for investors with $1 million or less; a robo advisory service would add to other recent product expansions including the acquisition of GE Capital's online bank, Marcus and Honest Dollar. Source