Peer-to-peer loan specialist Lending Club has added former Morgan Stanley chairman and CEO John Mack to its board of directors.
Lending Club launched in 2007, providing an online forum where potential borrowers and lenders can thrash out terms of a deal. Initially it operated within Facebook but soon broke out, claiming strong interest in its services.
However, the following year the start-up, and the entire nascent social lending industry, ran into regulatory trouble. Lending Club and rivals Prosper and Loanio were all forced to stop taking new loans and register with the SEC.
Since securing the regulatory green-light, Lending Club has been building up its business. Last summer it secured $25 million in funding and in February reached half a billion dollars in originations.
It has now added a heavyweight Wall Street player to the board in Mack, who stepped down as Morgan Stanley CEO in 2010 and chairman in 2011.
"Lending Club has created an innovative platform that provides investors with low-cost access to high-quality consumer credit assets, and at the same time makes credit more affordable to consumers. This is a winning combination and I am truly excited to serve on the company's board," says Mack.