Lending Club have come out of their quiet period with an astounding announcement for themselves and social lending.
Lendingclub blog
Today, we’re delighted to announce that we have completed this process and are now available to both borrowers and lenders. We believe that this SEC registration is a major step forward for the Lending Club community and social lending in general, as it helps establish the space as a investment alternative to the traditional debt instruments and credit products offered by large financial institutions.
Much of this remains to be digested, but the immediately obviously novel parts are:
- Partnership with FOLIOfn Investments, Inc.,
- On the trading platform, lenders who become customers of FOLIOfn will be able to put notes up for sale in the event they need liquidity before the completed term of a note.
Clearly social lending is undergoing consequential changes and shifts that will determine ultimate viability, and LendingClub are leading the current next wave with securities regulation under their belt and apparently unlimited access to lenders and borrowers.
Categories: regulation · securities regulation · social lending
We were honoured to have the opportunity to answer some highly pertinent questions about social lending in Canada. We hope our answers are of some interest to those following the space in Canada, the role of regulation, and the evolution of this new and exciting business model.
Thicken My Wallet
This month I am pleased to welcome Colin Henderson, CommunityLend’s Chief Technology Officer and Dave Coleman, CommunityLend’s Community Advocate, to discuss the social lending industry. By way of explanation, social lending, as the name implies, is the lending of funds between groups of individuals rather than institutions, like banks. I took our time to speak a little about their organization, the future of p2p and some fallout from Lending Club’s decision to suspend new lenders due to regulatory issues.
Categories: securities regulation · social lending
Hats off to ThickenMyWallet for nailing the issue on p2p lending. Suggest anyone who is tired of reading the speculation on LendingClub please take the time to read this, which includes a US definition of how securities regulations apply. Emphasis is his, and no further comment required 
Thicken My Wallet » Blog Archive » What the P2P lending industry doesn’t want you to know: of Lending Club and Prosper
Here’s the regulatory issue- IF A PERSON INVESTS MONEY AND HER
EXPECTATION OF PROFIT IS DERIVED SUBSTANTIALLY THROUGH THE
ENTREPRENEURIAL AND MANAGERIAL EFFORTS OF OTHERS, IT IS DEFINED AS A
SECURITY.
….
And, yes, this also applies to Canada as well- so CommunityLend will have to file with in jurisdictions where it operates as well if it works on a similar business model.
Categories: P2P Lending international · securities regulation
Lending Club have eliminated new lender registrations, and suspended existing lender bidding on their site.
Important Information - Lending Club
Lending Club has started a process to register, with the appropriate securities authorities, promissory notes that may be offered and sold to lenders through our site in the future. Until we complete the registration process, we will not accept new lender registrations or allow new commitments from existing lenders. We will continue to service all previously funded loans during this period, and lenders will be able to access their accounts, monitor their portfolios, and withdraw available funds without changes.
It appears from this that securities regulation now applies to p2p lending within Canada, and US.
Categories: P2P Lending international · securities regulation
