SEC Finding Said that Prosper Misled Investors

From approximately July 2015 until May 2017, Prosper excluded certain non-performing loans from its calculation of annualized net returns that it reported to its investors, according to an SEC order released last Friday. The order found that 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.

As a result of the inflated numbered, which the SEC order says Prosper management was aware of, many investors decided to make additional investments based on the overstated annualized net returns. The SEC order said that Prosper failed to identify and correct the error that overstated its annualized net returns “despite Prosper’s knowledge that it no longer understood how annualized net returns were calculated and despite investor complaints about the calculation.”

“For almost two years, Prosper told tens of thousands of investors that their returns were higher than they actually were despite warning signs that should have alerted Prosper that it was miscalculating those returns,” said Daniel Michael, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit.

Prosper neither admitted nor denied the findings. The company did not refute the SEC order’s findings, including that it violated the antifraud provision contained in Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933. Prosper will pay a $3 million penalty for miscalculating and overstating annualized net returns to retail and other investors.

According to a 2017 Financial Times story, one Prosper investor wrote on the Lend Academy forum in 2017 that their returns were restated from about 14 percent to 7 percent.

“Shame on me for just assuming that I was getting a higher rate,” the investor wrote, “but shame on Prosper x 1000 for misleading investors.”   

In a written statement to deBanked today, a Prosper representative characterized the miscalculation as an error only, not a scheme. She conveyed that when Prosper discovered the error in 2017, they notified investors who were impacted and changed the numbers so that they accurately reflected the investors’ returns.

“We’re pleased to have the SEC inquiry resolved and appreciate the SEC’s recognition of our cooperation as the agency looked into this matter,” read a statement provided by Prosper. “Since discovering and fixing this issue two years ago, we have put additional controls in place designed to detect and prevent similar errors in the future, and we are committed to providing transparent information on returns to our retail investors.”

Prosper’s CEO, David Kimball, was awarded “Executive of the Year” at this year’s LendIt Fintech conference earlier this month.

In 2018, the company originated $2.8 billion in loans, remaining flat compared to 2017. Prosper’s net revenue last year was $104 million, a decrease compared to $116 million in 2017. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Francisco, Prosper provides personal loans up to $40,000 and was one of the first peer to peer lenders.

Todd Stone was a reporter for deBanked.