equity crowdfunding

Hype Hangover: Crowdfinance Industry Right-Sizes in Face of Weak Market Demand

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The fledging crowdfinance industry is awash with fear and loathing these days. Just below the surface of the hype and evangelism about crowdfunding’s promise to circumvent the old boys’ club of traditional venture capital and allow entrepreneurs to raise capital directly from so-called “Main Street” investors, lies a growing realization that they – the “picks and shovels” makers of this new Gold Rush – may be the only ones excited about the prospect.

Whitney White
Executive Moves

WR Hambrecht Loses Its Reg A Banker

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Alternative IPO investment bank WR Hambrecht + Co. is losing the senior banker who has led the firm’s Reg A initiative, putting the future of the firm’s crowdfinance program in doubt. Whitney White, a partner and Hambrecht’s head of equity capital markets, is joining Prime Trust LLC, the trust company and crowdfinance back-office administrator spun off from FundAmerica last summer.

Emerging Growth News

SEC Stock Promotion Busts Snare Well-known Players in Microcap IR and Media

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The Securities and Exchange Commission is cracking down on investor relations firms that promote investment in emerging growth companies without disclosing that they are getting paid to tout their stock. On Monday April 10 the regulator announced a sweep of enforcement cases against executives at IR firms and the writers they hired to write bullish articles on penny stock companies masked as unbiased analyses which were posted on online investment websites including Seeking Alpha, The Street, Motley Fool and Benzinga.