Peer-to-peer lending platforms are a potential disruptor to a long-established industry

For small businesses – and aspiring businesspeople -- banks have been a financial gatekeeper. Without assets and a business credit profile, businesses are often out of luck. But peer-to-peer lending services are beginning to disrupt an industry that is very set in its ways. Fintech lending platforms like October assign businesses a credit score based on a company’s financial history, default probability, and projected profit margin.

Delve: How FinTech Lending to Small Businesses Opens the Door to Bank Loans, with Paul Beaumont

Bank loans are the typical first step for most small and medium-sized businesses, but another form of business lending has emerged: FinTech companies that use algorithms to determine whether a business is worth the risk.

A new act for Cirque du Soleil

At the end of 2020, a creditor consortium led by Catalyst Capital became the new owner of Cirque du Soleil only months after the famed circus producer made a failed bid for bankruptcy protection. While Catalyst Capital has been plagued by controversy in the past, according to a new investigative article from La Presse, it offered a way out for a company that has endured a catastrophic year.

Rogers purchases Shaw, erases competition

Following its $26 billion acquisition of Shaw, Rogers has been criticized for eliminating regional competition. If the sale is approved by the Trudeau government, the company would become the second-largest telecom provider in Canada.

Professor Paul Beaumont joins the conversation to discuss the continuing importance of keeping the telecom industry competitive.