Daily Archives: 07/08/2014

Financial Markets Authority Licenses P2P Lending

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) issued its first peer-to-peer lending service licence. Harmoney is the first provider of this new financial service, under the provisions of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. Licensing peer-to-peer lending services forms part of FMA’s brief to facilitate new capital-raising opportunities in New Zealand. It is also part of the Government’s business growth agenda. Peer-to-peer lending involves an intermediary, the peer-to-peer lending service, bringing borrowers and lenders together, and charging a fee for the service. Lenders and borrowers can find out more information on FMA’s website. Under the regulations, borrowers are limited to raising no more than $2 million in any 12-month period through peer-to-peer lending services. This limit applies to both business and consumer borrowers – although individual service providers may impose lower limits on the amount that may be borrowed. The regulations don’t impose any limits on the am amount lenders can lend, although some service providers may impose limits.