Feb 7th, 2018 at the Harvard Club of New York
Sherwood Neiss, is a Principal at Crowdfund Capital Advisors and a Partner at Crowd Capital Ventures. He is an expert at building successful businesses.
Blaine McLaughlin is the Chief Operating Officer of VIA Folio, an innovative IPO, private and alternative investment platform that makes it easy for online platforms, issuers, investors, brokers and advisors to engage with IPOs, private and alternative debt and equity offerings.
Georgia P. Quinn is the CEO and co-founder of iDisclose, an adaptive web-based application that enables entrepreneurs to prepare customized institutional grade private placement
Sara Hanks, co-founder, and CEO of CrowdCheck, is an attorney with over 30 years of experience in the corporate and securities field.
By Paul Niederer, Founder Raiseworth. (Here is a post from 2015 when I started pushing for Crowdfunding to be moved to the Blockchain) If I go back to 2008, in the very early days of Equity Crowdfunding, the ASSOB platform has already been operating for around four years. This meant there were plenty of learnings in place even before any other equity platforms had started. There are parallels here with ICO’s as in the early days many people that approached us to raise capital on ASSOB had not much more than an idea or a sketch on paper. We learnt as the years went by that the existing regulatory structure was not detailed enough to protect investors so we put in place the ASSOB compliance framework. This stood the test of time as 300 odd raises later no evidence of fraud has emerged. This included an “offer document” not dissimilar to the “White Papers” that set out all aspects of the raise including: OPPORTUNITY KEY DETAILS KEY INVESTOR HIGHLIGHTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ABOUT THE COMPANY CORPORATE OBJECTIVES COMPETITION & RISK ABOUT THIS OFFER HOW TO APPLY FOR SHARES OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE STRATEGIC GROWTH PLAN USE OF FUNDS DIRECTORS DECLARATION DISCLAIMER GLOSSARY OF TERMS This was not […]
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 (10:00 AM) – Committee on Financial Services Hearing: “Examining the SEC’s Agenda, ICO’s Crowdfunding, Operations, and Budget”
By Navroop Sahdev Centre for Blockchain Technologies, University College London, UK Centre d’Économie de l’Université Paris-Nord, France June 2017 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. The Advent of Crowdfunding 3. Market design and Liquidity Considerations for CFE Trading on the Blockchain 3.1. Liquidity and Price Discovery 3.2. A game of Information 3.3. Asset Servicing and Voting 3.4. Market Making versus Tokenization 3.5. The impact of Transparent Holdings 4. Concluding remarks 5. Endnotes 6. References CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT Abstract Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, promises to be nothing less than Internet 2.0. The financial services industry, in particular, is preparing for the disruption blockchain/distributed ledger technology promises to cause. In the current business environment, the majority of startups and small businesses have to look for alternative sources of funding given that ‘going public’ is increasingly expensive. The crowdfunding space has seen tremendous growth as an alternative way to raise capital by businesses. However, these crowdfunded shares cannot be traded for 7 – 10 years on average on any given platform in the U.S. currently. To build a trading platform on the blockchain which is completely P2P, immutable, fully transparent and low-cost presents some key design issues. […]
By: Sherwood Neiss and Jason Best, Principals Crowdfund Capital Advisors, LLC Into the second year of Regulation Crowdfunding there are now over 475 companies that have filed offering documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $1,070,000 from their customers, communities, friends and family. But in which industries are these investors most interested in deploying their capital? The good news for companies considering using Regulation Crowdfunding, is that these online investors have a diverse appetite. While software/gaming application companies receive the most commitments, breweries, entertainment companies, personal transportation vehicles, restaurants and personal services (i.e. fitness training, veterinary, grooming, etc) aren’t far behind. They key data points for potential issuers to understand are: 1) How much money do you need to raise for your business in relation to the average amount raised for your industry? 2) Where is the crowd is engaged in deals and dollars? Meaning is there enough interest in your business (industry) to crowdfund. And 3) what is the crowd’s average check size – to determine how much you can realistically raise from your network compared with what you need? At Crowdfund Capital Advisors, we track all Regulation Crowdfunding offerings across the […]
by Brandon Raatikka According to FactRight’s tracking, the SEC qualified 21 Reg A+ Tier 2 offerings in the second quarter of 2017, maintaining a brisk pace by the standards of Reg A+’s relatively short history. Approximately 45% of the 96 Tier 2 offerings qualified since late 2015 (not later withdrawn or used for merger purposes) have been qualified in just the first half of this year. Three issuers made headlines in June 2017, when each listed common equity (that had been previously issued under Regulation A offerings) on a national securities exchange: Myomo, Inc. (NYSE: MYO), Adomani, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADOM), and ShiftPixy, Inc. (Nasdaq: PIXY). In the wake of successful public listings, it will be interesting to see whether a growing proportion of issuers will seek to use Regulation A as a stepping stone to becoming a fully public company. Interact with FactRight’s database through the charts below to glean additional insights about the state of the Regulation A space through the second quarter of 2017. The charts below are dynamic; if you click on a single data point in any chart, it will filter the data displayed on the sidebar at left and in the remaining charts. (For instance, if you click […]
By Trudy-Anne McLeary, Associate, Corporate and Finance | Benjamin T. Brickner, Associate, Corporate and Finance In an investigative report and investor bulletin, the SEC concludes that offers and sales of cryptocurrency coins and tokens may be subject to federal securities laws. On July 25, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) released an investigative report with important implications for issuers and sponsors of initial coin offerings (ICOs) that raise funds for cryptocurrency ventures. The report, prompted by the recent proliferation of such activity, concluded that coins offered to purchasers in ICOs constitute securities regulated by the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act). As a result, absent an exemption, such offerings must be registered with the Commission, similar to other public offerings. The press release accompanying the report notably quotes the new Commission chairman and the new heads of the Corporation Finance and Enforcement divisions. This combined statement gives the report unusual weight and makes clear to Commission Staff that its contents describe senior officials’ current thinking on cryptocurrency regulation. Background In early 2015, The DAO, an unincorporated association, organized an IPO-style offering in which investors were offered DAO Tokens in exchange for Ether, a cryptocurrency […]
Crowdfund Beat News Wire, SEC issued an investigative report stating, “tokens offered and sold by a ‘virtual’ organization known as ‘The DAO’ were securities and therefore subject to the federal securities laws.” U.S. Securities Laws May Apply to Offers, Sales, and Trading of Interests in Virtual Organizations FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2017-131 Washington D.C., July 25, 2017— The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an investigative report today cautioning market participants that offers and sales of digital assets by “virtual” organizations are subject to the requirements of the federal securities laws. Such offers and sales, conducted by organizations using distributed ledger or blockchain technology, have been referred to, among other things, as “Initial Coin Offerings” or “Token Sales.” Whether a particular investment transaction involves the offer or sale of a security – regardless of the terminology or technology used – will depend on the facts and circumstances, including the economic realities of the transaction. The SEC’s Report of Investigation found that tokens offered and sold by a “virtual” organization known as “The DAO” were securities and therefore subject to the federal securities laws. The Report confirms that issues of distributed ledger or blockchain technology-based securities must register offers and sales of such securities unless a valid exemption applies. Those participating in unregistered offerings also […]
This past week the Chinese National Committee of Experts on the Financial Security Technology issued a report highlighting fraud in the cryptocurrency marketplace. The government sponsored group pointed to 421 “fake virtual currencies coming from overseas.” China has effectively banned cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings.... Read More
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Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has spoken publicly about how draft laws winding their way now through the Russian parliament will define cryptocurrencies and tokens. Bitcoin.com reports that Medvedev recently told an audience at a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum: “We need... Read More
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Spun, a British artisan candy-maker specializing in hand-crafted candy, is now seeking £450,000 through its equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube. Launch in 2013, the company revealed that it has developed hundreds of designs and flavors of confectionery. Its product range is constantly “evolving, pushing the boundaries,... Read More
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Multinational Retail Giant Auchan Establishes a Joint Venture of Consumer Finance with China’s Bright Food Group On April 28th, France’s Oney Bank and Bright Food Group from Shanghai, signed an investment agreement to establish Shanghai Bright-Oney Consumer Finance Co., Ltd., and submitted the materials to... Read More
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Sugru, a high profile consumer product company that crowdfunded on Crowdcube, has been sold at a significant loss to early investors. Sugru raised over £4 million in several crowdfunding campaigns on the platform. The most recent being in 2017 when a 4.62% equity stake was... Read More
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Zichain, a crypto finance company, announced this week it has appointed Jun Hao and Bogdan Fiedur to its Advisory Board. Zichain reported that its Advisory Board was created to provide strategic guidance and valuable technical advice to the company’s management team. It will also support Zichain... Read More
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Republic, a mission driven investment crowdfunding platform that enables companies to raise money by selling securities including initial coin offerings, has provided an update on their progress. Shared on the 2 year anniversary of when Reg CF became actionable, Republic shares the following stats: To... Read More
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Sageworks, a U.S. fintech that offers lending, credit risk, and portfolio risk solutions to banks and credit unions, announced on Friday it was acquired by Accel-AKKR, a private equity firm based in Menlo Park, California. As previously reported, Sageworks, which was founded in 1998, offers banks and... Read More
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The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) released its annual report this past week. As part of the release, Chairman of the AMF Robert Ophèle delivered a speech highlighting important issues and challenges within the financial markets. During his speech, Ophèle commented on “toxic investments.” While first addressing binary... Read More
The post Head of French Regulator AMF Comments on Crytpo Asset Losses, Throws Shade at Madrid Football Team Due to Crypto Sponsor appeared first on Crowdfund Insider.
Several news reports this month have pointed to a slowdown in the crypto token issues that have been used to finance early stage companies, and the reports predicted that the increased regulatory activity echoing around the globe will serve as a deterrent to further growth.... Read More
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