Scott Sanborn gave a recap of his LendIt USA 2017 keynote presentation and reiterated his excitement and positive outlook for the marketplace lending industry in a blog post; Sanborn identified three key areas of importance: evolving the customer experience, unleashing the platform potential and amplifying core innovations; with a focus on these three things Lending Club plans to see more borrowers and investors as well as a number of new and innovative partnerships fueling its future business growth. Source
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested that Lending Club provide increased disclosure on its loan portfolio and sources of funds also suggesting they improve non-GAAP reporting which is potentially misleading for investors; Lending Club has agreed to provide more disclosure and evolved its SEC filings accordingly however it has defended its non-GAAP accounting procedures, reporting it did not see the measures as misleading; recent requests for added disclosure as a publicly traded company are included in the SEC's last correspondence on November 4; the items remain open and the SEC's most recent correspondence is in addition to its review of the company following the replacement of its CEO in May. Source
The SEC has agreed to reconsider its review of the Winklevoss bitcoin ETF rejection following a petition from the Bats exchange; a comment period is now open for support or opposition of the Disapproval Order until May 15; the SEC has not approved any bitcoin ETFs for trading also rejecting the listing of SolidX on the NYSE Arca. Source
The SEC's report on ICOs as securities has prompted ShapeShift to review the listings on its cryptocurrency exchange; ShapeShift will likely delist some of its traded listings and says it does not want to be characterized as a securities exchange; ShapeShift and its legal counsel will apply the Howey Test to the cryptocurrency listings which is the current market standard also used by the SEC for determining whether an offering is considered a security. Source
The Sift app was designed to increase transparency in credit card spending and provide credit card users with detailed information on fees and alternatives; the app has the capability to analyze 90% of all issued credit cards in the US for hidden benefits, price adjustment refunds, extended warranties, return protection and more; the firm has announced a $1.5 million fundraising round with the launch of the app and has plans to increase its users and expand the app's offerings. Source
The trading suspension was announced for American Security Resources Corp. (ARSC) on August 24, 2017; the suspension will be effective until September 8, 2017; according to the SEC, "The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities of ARSC because of questions that have arisen regarding publicly available information about the company in press releases on OTCMarkets.com, dated August 1, and August 8, 2017, concerning, among other things, the company's business transition to the cryptocurrency markets and early adoption of blockchain technology."; the SEC has suspended trading on at least two other companies involved in bitcoin that are listed on the OTC markets. Source
The SEC suspended trading of OTC-listed technology company CIAO Group (now rebranded as NuMelo Technology); trading is currently suspended until August 23; the SEC is questioning the accuracy of a planned ICO by the firm and the initiative that the ICO funding would support; the additional funding would support a digital financial products marketplace for the African market based on blockchain technology. Source
The US Senate's Banking Committee majority leader says a full reform of Dodd-Frank is unlikely but the Committee will seek to pass targeted reforms; the Banking Committee majority leader also sees larger regulatory changes coming mainly from the independent agencies; the outlook means the Financial Choice Act led by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling is also unlikely to be passed in the Senate; "The Choice Act is our omnibus legislation, but we will also reintroduce its component bills," says Hensarling; a previous executive order from President Trump which halts new federal regulations or requires regulators to repeal two rules for every new one issued is also slowing the regulatory process. Source
BlueVine raised $49 million in a Series D funding round from existing investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners; BlueVine has so far provided $200 million in working capital and says they are on track to lend out $500 million in 2017; BlueVine credits partnerships for a lot of their success, in particular the deal with QuickBooks who says the BlueVine offer is very popular among users. Source
The House of Representatives has passed Supporting America's Innovators Act (HR 1219); the bill will provide increased access to capital for small businesses; among its provisions are changes to the number of investors in a venture capital fund and incentives for rural entrepreneurship. Source