On CNBC's Squawk Box Ray Dalio, the founder of the world's largest hedge fund spoke negatively about bitcoin stating "It's not an effective storehold of wealth because it has volatility to it, unlike gold. Bitcoin is a highly speculative market. Bitcoin is a bubble."; he went on to say that it could be a currency and work conceptually but the speculation going on hurts it. Source
All P2P lenders will now be known as non-banking financial companies (NBFC-P2P); all p2p lenders will also have to receive a certificate of registration; companies will go through a 12 month period before getting final approval; under the rules a p2p firm can’t raise deposits or lend on its own; other details of the guidelines including loan caps for borrowers are outlined in the article. Source
The Royal Bank of Scotland is closing 158 branches in the UK in an effort to reduce costs; it has continued to struggle since the financial crisis reporting nine consecutive years of losses; the firm has been increasingly integrating automation to cut costs and says it will make a decision on its robo advisory service for mortgage lending by the third quarter; the robo advisory service offers customers advice and insight that helps them decide on a mortgage loan product, also giving them an option to connect with a human advisor at any time during the process. Source
Over $300 million has been invested on RealtyShares into residential and commercial real estate projects; the company crossed $200 million in September 2016; individual investors can invest a minimum of $5,000 per project; the company also has multi-billion dollar institutions participating on the platform; to date 550 real estate deals have been done across 1,000 properties, spanning 35 states; RealtyShares has a network of 38,000 accredited investors. Source
Marketplace lender, PeerStreet, has raised $15 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz; PeerStreet offers secured real estate loans through its lending platform; the minimum investment is $1,000; investors on the platform include high net worth individuals, family offices and institutions; Andreessen Horowitz's Rampell noted the competitive advantages of PeerStreet compared to competitors included their fast growth and distribution model; he stated, "Most companies that are lending to consumers spend all the money in customer acquisition and it is very hard to get a profit." Source
Raymond James has announced it will integrate robo advice services with its financial planners; the firm says it will use an internally developed system available to its approximately 7,100 advisors; the platform will be accessible to clients and overseen by their advisor; the firm says it will also comply with the Department of Labor's new fiduciary rules. Source
The Reserve Bank of India will begin regulating p2p lending firms; the government of India released a notification on Wednesday; the platforms will be treated as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs); article shares the suggested regulatory framework from a paper released in 2016. Source
A new report by NextGen Crowdfunding documents increasing use of Reg. A+ as the regulatory umbrella for real estate crowdfunding and other financial offerings; Reg. A+ was finalized in June 2015 as a means for non-accredited investors to access private offerings; companies can raise up to $50 million per year under Reg. A+; across all sectors, 131 companies to date have filed under Reg. A+, with 38% of these filings being by real estate and financial services platforms and many others being IT startups; roughly half of the filers are using "Tier 1" rules for Reg. A+, meaning they will continue to register in individual states as well as at the federal level, and half are filing "Tier 2", seeking national fundraising scope while avoiding the added prudence of vetting against state rules. Source
The company recently held a conference call with investors to discuss options with a company called Jazco reportedly offering to take over the remaining deals on the site; the company was reportedly issued a subpoena by the SEC at some point regarding operational questions; in early 2016 a law firm attempted to restructure the firm but the company continued to face challenges; eventually the CEO William Skelley left the company at which point a consultant stepped in; no deals have been originated since late 2016. Source
Roofstock, an online marketplace in the single-family rental sector, raised $20 million in Series B funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Nyca Partners, QED Investors and SV Angel; they plan to use the proceeds to ramp up national expansion, invest in product development and roll out an asset management platform as they intend to reach domestic and global investors. Source