Jiedaibao, launched by JD Capital, would give people looking to engage in debt recovery all kinds of personal data belonging to overdue debtors, including phone numbers, addresses and even ID card numbers; releasing this kind of information would allow for any freelance debt collector to harass borrowers into paying their overdue amounts; this type of practice in China is not all that unusual as past debt collection efforts have discussed the release of nude photos if payments are missed; the agreement would give the "debt collector" 40% of the debt paid. Source
In the FT’s big read they take an in-depth look at the boom of initial coin offerings (ICOs) and the potential bubble they are causing; ICOs have thus far raised over $1.8bn worldwide and have shown no signs of slowing; the bigger question is will international financial regulators clamp down to kill the market or provide it more structure. Source
While Amazon is unlikely to buy a bank in 2018, they are still a threat to banks and other fintech companies; the company is already involved in payments, cash, debit cards, small business lending and consumer credit; Tearsheet shares how retail and financial services companies are becoming more intertwined and how this is a trend that will continue into 2018; the way consumers interact across various apps and accounts is also having a significant effect on banks. Source
Think Finance cites Morgan Stanley's 2015 estimates for the marketplace lending industry which predict global marketplace lending will reach $290 billion by 2020; in their featured blog post they report on five key areas for platforms to achieve long term success; credit modeling, platform costs and differentiation are a few of the factors they focus on; Think Finance offers a full suite of services to online lenders to help them achieve success in branding, marketing, risk underwriting, portfolio management, loan originations and many other related lending services. Sponsored Blog Post
Chancellor Hammond has reported the UK Spring Budget which provides insight for the region on the UK's economy as it separates from the European Union; the Spring Budget included a 270 million British pound ($328 million) investment by Industrial Strategy challenge fund for development of innovative technologies; Crowdfund Insider provides comments on the Spring Budget from a few executives in alternative finance; of note is the Budget's continued provision that prevents investors from diversifying across innovative finance individual savings accounts and a change in the tax on dividend income. Source
In 2016 the student loan securitization market increased compared to 2015 and in 2017 the market has already been off to a good start; the panelists discuss the reasons for this trend of increased issuance including knowledge, confidence and a default rate of just 3 bps; in the case of the refinance product, supply has created the demand; panel also comments on the current regulatory landscape and the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program which guarantees student loans; on the whole loan side, the panelists talk about the interest from investors, why they are deploying capital to the student loan market and the kind of returns they can expect; finally the panelists talk about risk retention and the importance of fintech in the origination of assets. Source
In partnership with The New York Times, CB Insights reports on the top 100 venture capitalists; top on the list is Bill Gurley from Benchmark; notable increases from 2016 include Founders Fund's Brian Singerman who moved to fifth and Lightspeed Venture Partners' Ravi Mhatre who is ranked sixth. Source
Business Insider reports on the UK Treasury's first International Fintech event; the UK's Chancellor Hammond is scheduled to speak about growing and strengthening fintech amid the challenges presented by Brexit; the CEOs of Funding Circle and TransferWise will also be speaking at the event. Source
RateSetter has added additional detail to its annual performance statistics to provide greater transparency; the additional details provide data on loan originations by lending type with a breakdown of consumer and commercial loans; for commercial lending the firm will now also disclose loans to property developers, small and medium size enterprises, and wholesale lenders; the changes were prompted by a request from the Financial Conduct Authority for greater disclosure on wholesale lending across the industry; the update from RateSetter also included a report on a defaulted loan that RateSetter has taken onto its balance sheet to protect investors. Source