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Crowdfunding has been given a helping hand in the UK recently with the market set to be regulated from 1 April.
It’s true that many other European nations have looked to the UK to see how regulation unfolds, particularly the restrictions placed on individual investors, so those looking to set up in the European markets will be encouraged by a new report by the EU Executive.
The EU Executive has recently acknowledged the power of crowdfunding for small businesses and the desire to fund them from individuals. In a document seen by Reuters and set to be published shortly, an EU-state quality label could be applied, as could state aid to boost the industry.
“Crowdfunding is an important source of finance to some half a million European projects each year that otherwise may not obtain the necessary funds to be realised,” the document said.
“In view of this important public interest role, member states may support crowdfunding with their own resources, provided that there is an established market failure affecting the profitability of crowdfunding platforms,” the document continued.
The Micro Loan Market has picked up in recent weeks, with nearly £50,000 worth of loans acquired since the start of March. It takes the total sales figure to over £400,000, approximately 18% of our total advanced funds.
We’re pleased with the liquidity in the marketplace as we realise an exit is important for some lenders.
With a range of premium and discount options for sellers, the most sought-after loans are commanding a healthy premium, but sellers should gauge where their loans would appear on the list before trying to sell if they are looking for a quick sale. For context, the average premium commanded so far has been 2.64%. (more…)
Directors routinely grapple with dilemmas – whether it’s managing diverse shareholder expectations, choosing between business strategies, reconciling conflicts of interest, or simply trying to contain an overbearing CEO. How can you navigate through the choices?
The ability to balance integrity and entrepreneurial skill in the face of uncertainty is part of the job description. And often, there is not one obvious right decision, just a series of options that are “less bad” than the others.
The legal basis on which decisions should be assessed is contained within the Companies Act 2006, which codified 250-odd years of case law into a statutory statement of seven directors’ duties.
George Osborne’s latest budget has been largely welcomed by those in business. “A resilient economy is a more balanced economy with more exports, more building, more investment – and more manufacturing too”, said Mr Osborne.
We’ve outlined some of the key points for business owners:
Our reaction
We’re pleased that Vince Cable reiterated the need for the business finance market to become more competitive in his reaction. It would have been nice to see a reduction in National Insurance contributions, but the extension of grants for small businesses that take on apprentices is welcomed – we need to look after the next generation of workers.
It is great news for businesses looking to grow that the Annual Investment Allowance has been doubled to £500,000 and that peer-to-peer lending will be included in ISAs – this creates a new wave of would-be lenders into the industry.
Enterprise Zones
Hailing the success of the Enterprise Zones, Mr Osborne announced the extension of business rate discounts and enhanced capital allowances for a further three years.
George Osborne certainly surprised a few people today in his budget, but the standout part for us was the decision to allow peer-to-peer loans to be included in ISAs by scrapping the securities maturity date rules.
It’s too early to say when all this will actually happen, but the commitment by the Government is a huge positive. This is what we do know:
There will be some technical considerations for us and each lender will have to instruct us to transfer their ISA wrapper to rebuildingsociety.com, but we’ll let you know how that will work in due course.
Watch this space!
Opportunities for international growth do not present themselves on a daily basis, so when Eden Akhavi, Managing Director of LTT SME Ltd was given the opportunity, not once, but twice to acquire premium assets in the USA and The Netherlands within the space of a couple of months, he turned to rebuildingsociety.com to finance the move with loans of £100,000 then £150,000.
Expanding into new markets and taking on debt is a change in approach to how the company was being run, Eden has to oversee a shift in culture, workload and personnel as a result of the move, but he is keen to retain the positive aspects of the business, including the low cost base as the company grows.
“Most of our datacentre operation is fully automated”, he says.
“But I expect over the course of the coming few months, these two expansions will spawn another 3-4 jobs per site. Part of our success has been automating everything possible so that we can keep our operating costs to a minimum.”
While the processes might have been automated, the customer service is anything but – something Eden is visibly proud of, but acknowledges the challenge ahead.
From our recent Crowdfunding Roadshow held at The Carraigeworks in Leeds, here is the panel discussion on P2B lending, featuring Dan Rajkumar, Lee Birkett of eMoneyUnion, experienced lender and business owner, Stephen Lee, Nick Wilson of Leeds University Business School, Gary Lumby and Julian Wells, rebuildingsociety.com’s Marketing Director.
On 11 March at Vinopolis in London Bridge, platforms, investors, journalists and institutions gathered at the first AltFi Summit, organised by Alt Finance News, a news source dedicated to the new finance movement.
Some of our contemporaries at AltFi Summit 2014
Keynote speakers included Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, and CEOs from leading p2p platforms in the UK and Europe.
It’s the five year anniversary of record low interest rates this week and the world is a very different place for many of us now than when the decision was first made in 2009. Peer-to-business lending in its recognised form didn’t exist for one.
Whether you believe the economy is now more sustainable than before or not, financial services providers clearly think the worst is over and believe there is an opportunity to capitalise on the recovery.
This week Moneysupermarket reported that credit card APRs are at their highest average rates since 2001 at 18.17 per cent, while fixed rate and tracker mortgage rates have crept up since last year even, in anticipation of a rate rise and in recognition of easing conditions for consumers.