REGULATORY UPDATES
SEC Proposes Conditional Exemption for Finders Assisting Small Businesses with Capital Raising
On October 7, 2020, the Securities Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) proposed a conditional exemption from broker registration requirements for certain “finders” who assist issuers with raising capital in private markets. If adopted, the proposed exemption would permit natural persons to engage in certain limited activities involving accredited investors without registering with the SEC as brokers. The proposed exemption seeks to assist small businesses in raising capital and to provide regulatory clarity to investors, issuers, and the finders who assist them. The proposed exemption would establish guidelines for both registered broker activity and limited activity by finders that would be exempt from registration.
Open Banking Fintech Plaid Is Reportedly Planning to More than Double its Europe based Professional Team
Fintech firm
Plaid is reportedly planning to more than double its Europe-based workforce in 2021, despite having to back out of a potential deal to be acquired by payments giant Visa (due to US antitrust issues).
The financial technology firm appears to be taking the fallout of the $5.3 billion potential deal in its stride, hoping to take advantage of a move toward digital or online banking services following the COVID-19 outbreak.
Plaid’s financial infrastructure tools are used to link some of the most widely-used Fintech platforms in the United States with customers’ bank accounts. These firms include digital asset exchange Coinbase, payments firm Venmo, popular stock trading app Robinhood, among many others.
DOJ Antitrust Strikes Back, Visa Ditches Plaid Acquisition
Posted on 01/13/2021
Technology and financial giants often buyout their competition before they pose a threat. Visa Inc. is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Foster City, California. Visa is a global payments company that operates the largest debit network in the United States. Visa’s 2019 revenues were approximately US$ 23 billion. Plaid Inc. is a Delaware corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. Plaid is a financial services company that operates a popular financial data aggregation platform in the United States. In 2019, Plaid earned approximately US$ 100 million in revenues. Visa Inc. and Plaid Inc. have abandoned their planned US$ 5.3 billion merger.