The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Prosper Funding LLC will pay a $3 million penalty for miscalculating and materially overstating annualized net returns to retail and other investors. San Francisco-based Prosper is a marketplace lender that, through its website, offers and sells securities linked to the performance of its consumer credit loans. According to the SEC’s order, from approximately July 2015 until May 2017, Prosper excluded certain non-performing charged off loans from its calculation of annualized net returns that it reported to investors. The order finds that, as a result, Prosper reported overstated annualized net returns to more than 30,000 investors on individual account pages on Prosper’s website and in emails soliciting additional investments from investors
Current Industry News
Fearing Patchwork Privacy Laws, Tech Industry Calls for Federal Regulation
Still reeling from a recent series of devastating consumer data breaches, an unlikely consortium of tech companies is pushing for a uniform federal privacy law to address the growing “techlash” and preempt potentially more onerous regulations or a patchwork of state-by-state rules. As some states and foreign governments try to implement new limits on what information tech companies can collect and share, once regulation-wary executives are asking for an overarching law — one that they can help write. “There is a strong willingness to work with the government to determine what is doable and what is feasible,” Kristina Bergman, the founder and CEO of the data privacy firm Integris Software, told Cheddar.
CBA supports Education Department’s student aid recommendations
“For many families and students, a higher education will be one of the most costly investments they make. Colleges and universities have an obligation to set students up for success and the Department of Education should be commended for its recommendations to help ensure students know the true cost of their education. Every student should know how much money they are borrowing and how they will be responsible for repaying. For far too long, it seems some institutions of higher education have tried to mask these key factors by combining grants and scholarships with loans, work-study programs, and parent loans,” CBA President and CEO Richard Hunt said.
FTC Announces Agenda for May Forum on Small Business Financing
The Federal Trade Commission has released the agenda for its May 8 event, Strictly Business: An FTC Forum on Small Business Financing. The forum will explore trends and consumer protection issues in the small business financing marketplace, including the recent proliferation of online loans and alternative financing products. Commissioner Rohit Chopra will give opening remarks at the forum, followed by three panel discussions. The first panel will provide an overview of the small business financing marketplace. The second panel will examine merchant cash advances. The last panel will explore consumer protection risks, applicable laws, and efforts to better protect consumers. Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, will deliver closing remarks.