Canadian Small Business Loan Marketplace Suspends Operations After Run-in With Securities Regulators

Lending Loop, which describes itself as an online marketplace for Canadians to lend money to growing local businesses, has voluntarily suspended the posting of new loan requests since it is engaged in talks with the Ontario Securities Commission.

Ontario regulators started cracking down on peer-to-peer lending last June. “If you are approaching any Ontario investors to fund peer-to-peer loans or loan portfolios, then you should be talking to the OSC about securities law requirements, including whether you need to be registered or require a prospectus,” said Debra Foubert, Director of Compliance and Registrant Regulation at the OSC, in a news release.

The directive is not unlike the system set up for such lenders in the US. Lending Club and Prosper for example, issue a prospectus and file a registration statement for every single loan with the SEC.

“Lending Loop is Canada’s first peer-to-peer lending marketplace,” the website states. “Our core focus is providing businesses with accessible capital at fair interest rates through a simple online process.”

At present, the investor signup page has been replaced with a button to subscribe to their newsletter to find out when investing opportunities might resume.

Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future deBanked events here.