Written by an industry pioneer who has hands-on experience in the brave new world of peer-to-peer lending and equity crowdfunding, this book serves as a resource for investors and entrepreneurs alike and investigates how these alternative mechanisms will increase the financial and operational capacity of borrowers, lenders, buyers, and sellers in the private markets. More than 60 governments across the globe have established financial inclusion as a policy priority and are vying for access to and use of financial services by households and firms to boost economic growth. A thought leader on securities-based crowdfunding, author Kim Wales explores how women and the millennial generation, the world's largest groups of people, can influence "crowd" direct investment, economic freedom, and economic growth. The book provides building blocks to instruct investors and entrepreneurs about how to leverage social networks and supplies tools to help retail investors—"the crowd"—to understand the language, risks, and rewards of this type of investment. Providing an indispensable resource for investors and entrepreneurs, Peer-to-Peer Lending and Equity Crowdfunding summarizes past theory as well as current schools of thought related to capital formation and economic growth, explains why creating a secondary market for private placement offerings is essential to stimulating market liquidity, and documents how public-private partnerships using digital finance will enhance financial inclusion and positively impact investing. The book not only describes how crowdfunding works but also explains investment approaches, secondary markets, governance and compliance, transparency, and risk models that are necessary for investors to make informed decisions.

This open access Pivot demonstrates how a variety of technologies act as innovation catalysts within the banking and financial services sector. Traditional banks and financial services are under increasing competition from global IT companies such as Google, Apple, Amazon and PayPal whilst facing pressure from investors to reduce costs, increase agility and improve customer retention. Technologies such as blockchain, cloud computing, mobile technologies, big data analytics and social media therefore have perhaps more potential in this industry and area of business than any other. This book defines a fintech ecosystem for the 21st century, providing a state-of-the art review of current literature, suggesting avenues for new research and offering perspectives from business, technology and industry.

This open access book presents a comprehensive and up-to-date collection of knowledge on the state of crowdfunding research and practice. It considers crowdfunding models and their different manifestations across a variety of geographies and sectors, and explores the perspectives of fundraisers, backers, platforms, and regulators. Gathering insights from a wide range of influential researchers in the field, the book balances concepts, theory, and case studies. Going beyond previous research on crowdfunding, the contributors also investigate issues of community, sustainability, education, and ethics. A vital resource for anyone researching crowdfunding, this book offers readers a deep understanding of the characteristics, business models, user-relations, and behavioural patterns of crowdfunding.

This book is an in-depth and timely analysis of the EU Crowdfunding Regulation. Striking a balance between academic scrutiny and practical context, and drawing upon various aspects of financial law, consumer law, and dispute resolution, it is invaluable for practitioners and academics seeking to understand an innovative alternative mode of funding.

Crowdfunding is a hot topic and this Handbook provides a service to the research community by codifying, discussing and examining research in this area. It will be a starting point for researchers seeking high quality research in this new and important area.

This book focuses on various types of crowdfunding and the lessons learned from academic research. Crowdfunding, a new and important source of financing for entrepreneurs, fills a funding gap that was traditionally difficult to close. Chapters from expert contributors define and carefully evaluate the various market segments: donation-based and reward-based crowdfunding, crowdinvesting and crowdlending. They further provide an assessment of startups, market structure, as well as backers and investors for each segment. Attention is given to the theoretical and empirical findings from the recent economics and finance literature. Furthermore, the authors evaluate relevant regulatory efforts in several jurisdictions. This book will appeal to finance, entrepreneurship and legal scholars as well as entrepreneurs and platform operators.

The Regulatory Technology Handbook The transformational potential of RegTech has been confirmed in recent years with US$1.2 billion invested in start-ups (2017) and an expected additional spending of US$100 billion by 2020. Regulatory technology will not only provide efficiency gains for compliance and reporting functions, it will radically change market structure and supervision. This book, the first of its kind, is providing a comprehensive and invaluable source of information aimed at corporates, regulators, compliance professionals, start-ups and policy makers. The REGTECH Book brings into a single volume the curated industry expertise delivered by subject matter experts. It serves as a single reference point to understand the RegTech eco-system and its impact on the industry. Readers will learn foundational notions such as: • The economic impact of digitization and datafication of regulation • How new technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain) are applied to compliance • Business use cases of RegTech for cost-reduction and new product origination • The future regulatory landscape affecting financial institutions, technology companies and other industries Edited by world-class academics and written by compliance professionals, regulators, entrepreneurs and business leaders, the RegTech Book represents an invaluable resource that paves the way for 21st century regulatory innovation.

Written by an industry pioneer who has hands-on experience in the brave new world of peer-to-peer lending and equity crowdfunding, this book serves as a resource for investors and entrepreneurs alike and investigates how these alternative mechanisms will increase the financial and operational capacity of borrowers, lenders, buyers, and sellers in the private markets. More than 60 governments across the globe have established financial inclusion as a policy priority and are vying for access to and use of financial services by households and firms to boost economic growth. A thought leader on securities-based crowdfunding, author Kim Wales explores how women and the millennial generation, the world's largest groups of people, can influence "crowd" direct investment, economic freedom, and economic growth. The book provides building blocks to instruct investors and entrepreneurs about how to leverage social networks and supplies tools to help retail investors--"the crowd"--to understand the language, risks, and rewards of this type of investment. Providing an indispensable resource for investors and entrepreneurs, Peer-to-Peer Lending and Equity Crowdfunding summarizes past theory as well as current schools of thought related to capital formation and economic growth, explains why creating a secondary market for private placement offerings is essential to stimulating market liquidity, and documents how public-private partnerships using digital finance will enhance financial inclusion and positively impact investing. The book not only describes how crowdfunding works but also explains investment approaches, secondary markets, governance and compliance, transparency, and risk models that are necessary for investors to make informed decisions.

This book, written jointly by an engineer and artificial intelligence expert along with a lawyer and banker, is a glimpse on what the future of the financial services will look like and the impact it will have on society. The first half of the book provides a detailed yet easy to understand educational and technical overview of FinTech, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies including the existing industry pain points and the new technological enablers. The second half provides a practical, concise and engaging overview of their latest trends and their impact on the future of the financial services industry including numerous use cases and practical examples. The book is a must read for any professional currently working in finance, any student studying the topic or anyone curious on how the future of finance will look like.

Smaller companies are abundant in the business realm and outnumber large companies by a wide margin. To maintain a competitive edge against other businesses, companies must ensure the most effective strategies and procedures are in place. This is particularly critical in smaller business environments that have fewer resources. Start-Ups and SMEs: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source that examines the strategies and concepts that will assist small and medium-sized enterprises to achieve competitiveness. It also explores the latest advances and developments for creating a system of shared values and beliefs in small business environments. Highlighting a range of topics such as entrepreneurship, innovative behavior, and organizational sustainability, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for entrepreneurs, business managers, executives, managing directors, academicians, business professionals, researchers, and graduate-level students.