The purpose of pa4pl is to address the recent prohibition on Pennsylvanians from lending on the peer-to-peer lending site, Prosper.com.

p2p lending is an incredible concept! I give Prosper so much credit and appreciation for creating a venue where Americans can invest directly in their fellow American.

This new and intimate method of investing is wonderful, especially now as our sense of trust and security in our traditional methods of investment are being put to the test.

Email me at pa4prosperlending@gmail.com if you have anything you would like to see addressed on pa4pl.

Please sign the pa4prosperlending petition!

Monday, September 22, 2008

I Called the SEC

In my last post I asked, "Is a promissory note considered a security?"

I further asked, "
What does the SEC have to say?"

I then cited some information found on the SEC website that makes the statement:


"Most promissory notes must be registered as securities with the SEC and the states in which they’re being sold."

This morning I called
SEC Toll-Free Investor Information Service at 1-800-SEC-0330. I easily reached a representative and explained the reason for my call. She made a statement along the lines of,

"Unless a Promissory Note is sold on an exchange it does not need to be registered with the SEC."

She then suggested I call the
SEC Office of Small Business Policy. I'm not 100% on whether this is the most appropriate direction, but I took her advice and called.

The automated answer states, "If you have an interpretive or policy question" to leave a message and a lawyer will call back. So that's what I did. My question being:


"I have purchased Promissory Notes through the website, Prosper.com, a peer-to-peer lending site. Do these Promissory Notes require registration as securities with the SEC?"

(I explained that loans are "made" by WebBank, then "assigned" to Prosper, and then "assigned/sold" to individual investors)

I further asked:

"Is Prosper.com considered a broker/dealer of the Notes, and are they required to register as such with the SEC"

I will follow up on this.

Please sign the petition!

Ask a friend to sign!