California Opens Inquiry Into Marketplace Lending Industry
- State seeks information on industry's size, loan funding
- Inquiry will inform how state regulates fledgling industry
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California is conducting an inquiry into the practices of 14 so-called marketplace lenders to better understand the industry and how the state should think about its licensing and regulatory approach to the companies.
The Department of Business Oversight, which licenses financial-services companies in the state, is seeking to assess the industry’s size in California, how loans are funded, and how many businesses and consumers it touches, the regulator said Friday in a that didn’t identify which firms had been contacted. As part of the inquiry, the state asked the companies to respond to an online survey by March 9.