Agape World and P2P Lending
I wrote about peer-to-peer lending, also known as P2P lending, in early 2007.
I didn't think it was worthwhile as an investment because there was too much credit risk. In April 2008, the SEC started requiring these companies to register with the SEC. During the registration period, these companies had to stop accepting new loan offers. Lending Club went first. It finished its registration after six months and reopened in October 2008. Prosper entered the process in October. It hasn't come out yet. Then a third P2P lending company, Loanio, followed suit in November 2008.
In NPR's Planet Money podcast on January 12, 2009 (fast forward to 05:40), the guest Clay Shirky, New Media professor at New York University, said that the SEC was wrong in shutting down peer-to-peer lending sites and requiring them to register before they can open for business again. Last December, Netbanker published an open letter to the SEC, urging them to "leave peer-to-peer lending alone." Was SEC wrong in shutting down P2P lending sites and requiring them to register?
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