Canada's first peer-to-peer lender, Lending Loop, has opened its doors after completing its registration with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and other securities regulators.
The company today launched its platform to investors and small businesses across the country. The launch follows extensive efforts by the company's founders to chart the course for peer-to-peer lending in Canada .
Lending Loop is a peer-to-peer platform that connects small businesses seeking financing with Canadian investors. The platform offers businesses a better way to borrow, with a quick and easy application process and affordable interest rates. With the support of Canadian investors, Lending Loop is providing small businesses the ability to access the capital they need to grow. At the same time, Lending Loop allows investors to make an attractive fixed-income return while building a diverse portfolio of small business loans across a number of industries and geographies.
"While peer-to-peer lending has been highly successful across the globe, we had to navigate some unique regulatory challenges in order to bring this business model to Canada ," said Cato Pastoll, CEO and co-founder of Lending Loop. "It can be challenging for new entrants and regulators to adapt novel business models to existing regulations, and we're extremely proud to be pushing this industry forward. We're bringing a new form of finance to Canada that makes capital more accessible for small businesses while offering a brand new asset class to all Canadians."
Seeing the success of the model in other jurisdictions, including the UK and the United States , Pastoll and co-founder Brandon Vlaar first launched Lending Loop in late 2015 to bring peer-to-peer lending to Canadian small businesses and investors. In March 2016 , the team began a registration process to become an exempt market dealer. Lending Loop's newly obtained license allows the company to offer this innovative business model in a fully regulated manner, while ensuring its sustainability in the Canadian marketplace.
Having successfully completed its registration, Lending Loop is now live and accepting both new investors and new businesses to the platform. Lending Loop is not currently available to investors in Quebec but the company hopes to expand to the province in the near future.