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I had this idea earlier this year. However, after talking with a couple of lawyers, non of them felt comfortable with any sort of structure for doing this. Th
by ssharp 18y ago
I had this idea earlier this year. However, after talking with a couple of lawyers, non of them felt comfortable with any sort of structure for doing this. The way they are setting this up makes me pretty uneasy (not to mention that it isn't even U.S. based). If you're going to be dealing with U.S. securities, it should be within the laws of the U.S . I think if anyone can get around the SEC laws and structure something that IS legal, P2P investments could be a really great thing. I'm not sure if that's happening EVER though.
- tricky 18y agoI'd love to hear more about what you learned from your lawyers. shoot me an email if you get a minute.
- teamonkey 18y agoThere's Zopa, which probably inspired Couchtycoon. Zopa does P2P loans rather than investments (like Prosper, I guess). I don't know what the state is in the US, but it's all above board in the EU. There have been a few companies looking for funding - I noticed one from www.billster.net - but the problem is that given the size of the loan and the rates you're likely to get, a tech startup is far better off looking for VC or a government grant. I'm interested in CouchTycoon (EU-based is fine for me), but it seems like it's more of a trading platform than an investment platform. Share trading for non-listed companies. The site looks a bit dodgy too. I'll wait and see what happens when it comes out of Beta.