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H.S. junior Avg
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Financial report summary
?Risks
- You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, when evaluating our business. Any of the following risks, either alone or taken together, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects. While we believe the risks and uncertainties described below include all material risks currently known by us, it is possible that these may not be the only ones we face.
- RISKS RELATED TO PERSONAL LOAN BORROWER DEFAULT
- The Notes are risky and speculative investments suitable only for investors of adequate financial means.
- Payments on the Notes depend entirely on payments PFL receives on corresponding Borrower Loans. If a borrower fails to make any payments on the corresponding Borrower Loan related to a Note, payments on such Note will be correspondingly reduced.
- The Borrower Loans are not secured by any collateral or guaranteed or insured by any third party, and investors must rely on us or a third-party collection agency to pursue collection against any borrower.
- The credit information of an applicant may be inaccurate or may not accurately reflect the applicant’s creditworthiness, which may cause an investor to lose all or part of the price paid for a Note.
- The Prosper Rating may not accurately set forth the risks of investing in the Notes, no assurances can be provided that actual loss rates for the Notes will come within the estimated average annualized loss rates indicated by the Prosper Rating, and investors have limited rights to cause Prosper to repurchase the Notes.
- Investors who use the Recurring Investment or Auto Invest tools may face additional risk of funding Borrower Loans that have been erroneously selected by the tool.
- Some borrowers may use our marketplace to defraud investors, which could adversely affect investors’ ability to recoup their investment.
- The fact that we have the exclusive right and ability to investigate claims of identity theft in the origination of Borrower Loans creates a significant conflict of interest between us and our investors.
- If payments on the Borrower Loan corresponding to an investor’s Note become overdue, such investor may not receive the full principal and interest payments that were expected on the Note, and such investor may not recover the original purchase price on the Note.
- Loss rates on the Borrower Loans may increase as a result of economic conditions beyond our control and beyond the control of the borrower.
- The Borrower Loans do not restrict borrowers from incurring additional unsecured or secured debt, nor do they impose any financial restrictions on borrowers during the term of the Borrower Loan, which may reduce the likelihood that an investor will receive the full principal and interest payments that such investor expects to receive on a Note.
- Borrowers may not view or treat their obligations to PFL as having the same significance as loans from traditional lending sources.
- Our marketplace may fail to comply with applicable laws, which could limit our ability to collect on Borrower Loans.
- In general, the Borrower Loans do not contain any cross-default or similar provisions. If a borrower defaults on any of their other debt obligations, our ability to collect on the Borrower Loan on which an investor’s Note is dependent for payment may be substantially impaired.
- Borrowers may seek the protection of debtor relief under federal bankruptcy or state insolvency laws, which may result in the nonpayment of an investor’s Notes.
- Federal law entitles borrowers who enter active military service to an interest rate cap and certain other rights that may inhibit the ability to collect on Borrower Loans and reduce the amount of interest paid on the corresponding Notes.
- The Federal Trade Commission's Holder in Due Course Rule may substantially impair an investor’s ability to recoup the full purchase price of a Note or to receive the interest payments that such investor expects to receive on the Note.
- The death of a borrower may substantially impair an investor’s ability to recoup the full purchase price of a Note or to receive the interest payments that such investor expects to receive on the Note.
- RISKS INHERENT IN INVESTING IN THE NOTES
- The Notes are special, limited obligations of PFL only and are not directly secured by any collateral or guaranteed or insured by PMI or any third party.
- PFL is not obligated to indemnify Note holders or repurchase Notes except in limited circumstances.
- PFL might incur indemnification and repurchase obligations that exceed its projections, in which case it may not have sufficient liquidity to meet its indemnification and repurchase obligations.
- Our marketplace allows a borrower to prepay a Borrower Loan at any time without penalty. Borrower Loan prepayments will extinguish or limit an investor’s ability to receive additional interest payments on a Note.
- Prevailing interest rates may change during the term of the Notes. If this occurs, investors may receive less value from the purchase of Notes in comparison to other ways they may invest their money. Additionally, borrowers may prepay their Borrower Loans due to changes in interest rates, and investors may not be able to redeploy the amounts received from prepayments in a way that offers the return expected from the Notes.
- We may not set appropriate interest rates for Borrower Loans.
- The Notes will not be listed on any securities exchange and can be held only by registered Prosper investors. Further, no trading platform for the transfer of Notes exists and there can be no assurance a trading platform for the transfer of Notes will develop in the future. Therefore, investors should be prepared to hold the Notes they purchase until maturity.
- The U.S. federal income tax consequences of an investment in the Notes are uncertain.
- PFL’s ability to pay principal and interest on a Note may be affected by its ability to match the timing of its income and deductions for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
- Our participation in the funding of Borrower Loans could be viewed as creating a conflict of interest.
- RISKS RELATED TO PFL AND PMI, OUR MARKETPLACE AND OUR ABILITY TO SERVICE THE NOTES
- Human error in the operation of our platform has resulted in the allocation of Borrower Loans to our Note Channel which did not conform to the eligibility criteria applicable to Borrower Loans at the time of allocation. If we are unable to prevent the reoccurrence of similar errors, our business and investors could be adversely impacted.
- We have experienced errors on our platform that have resulted in incorrect reporting of performance returns to Note investors. If we are unable to prevent the reoccurrence of similar errors, investors could be adversely impacted.
- Arrangements for back-up servicing are limited. If PMI fails to maintain operations or the Administration Agreement is rejected or terminated (in bankruptcy or otherwise), investors may experience a delay and increased cost in respect of their expected principal and interest payments on Notes, and PFL may be unable to collect and process repayments from borrowers.
- A decline in economic conditions may adversely affect our customers, which may negatively impact our business and results of operations.
- A relatively small number of investors provide the funding for a large percentage of all Borrower Loans originated through our marketplace.
- Our business could be adversely affected by a weakening market for securities backed by consumer assets.
- Although PFL has been organized in a manner that is intended to minimize the likelihood that it will become subject to a bankruptcy proceeding, if this were to occur, the rights of holders of the Notes could be uncertain, and payments on the Notes may be limited, suspended or stopped. The recovery, if any, of a holder on a Note may therefore be substantially delayed and substantially less than the principal and interest due and to become due on the Note.
- If PFL becomes subject to a bankruptcy or similar proceeding, a Note holder may not have any priority right to payment from the corresponding Borrower Loan, may not have any right to payment from funds in the applicable servicing account, and may not have any ability to access funds in the applicable funding accounts (the “FBO Funding accounts”).
- In a bankruptcy or similar proceeding of PFL, a holder of a Note may be delayed or prevented from enforcing PFL’s repurchase obligations with respect to such Note.
- Although PFL has been organized in a manner that is intended to prevent it from being substantively consolidated with PMI in the event of PMI’s bankruptcy, if PFL were substantively consolidated in this manner, the rights of the holders of the Notes could be uncertain, and payments on the Notes may be limited, suspended or stopped. The recovery, if any, of a holder on a Note may therefore be substantially delayed and substantially less than the principal and interest due and to become due on the Note.
- PMI, in its capacity as servicer, has the authority to waive or modify the terms of a Borrower Loan without the consent of the Note holders.
- We have incurred operating losses in prior years and may continue to incur net losses in the future.
- The Term Loan, and any additional indebtedness we incur in the future, could adversely affect our business and financial results.
- Although our business has grown, we may be unable to manage our growth effectively and meet the demands that such growth places on our facilities, employees and infrastructure.
- The Credit Card and Home Equity Products are new products within a competitive market which are complex and require us to allocate significant resources to the development, launch and growth of these new products. If these new products are unable to attract borrowers and generate revenue, our business and results of operations could suffer.
- Our Credit Card product has a limited performance history and, as we are responsible for verified fraud losses and most straight charegeoffs across the portfolio and for credit losses on accounts allocated to us, any failure to accurately capture credit and market risks could have a negative impact on our business, operating results and financial condition.
- PFL’s reliance on PMI or other third-party service providers, lack of employees, limited operating history, and capitalization levels could make it difficult to operate at a sustainable level.
- The market in which we participate is competitive and, if we do not compete effectively, our operating results could be harmed.
- If we fail to promote and maintain our brand in a cost-effective manner, we may lose market share and our revenue may decrease.
- The proprietary technology that makes operation of our marketplace possible is not fully protected by patents. It may be difficult and costly for PFL to protect its intellectual property rights in relation thereto, or to continue to develop or obtain new technologies, which could adversely affect its ability to operate competitively.
- PFL relies on a third-party commercial bank to process transactions. If PFL is unable to continue utilizing these services, its business and ability to service the Notes may be adversely affected.
- If the security of PFL's investors' and borrowers' confidential information stored in our systems is breached or otherwise subjected to unauthorized access, users' secure information may be stolen, our reputations may be harmed, and we may be exposed to liability.
- Any significant disruption in service in our marketplace or in PMI’s computer systems could adversely affect PMI’s ability to perform its obligations under the Administration Agreement.
- Our marketplace may be vulnerable to computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions.
- Competition for our employees is intense, and we may not be able to attract and retain the highly skilled employees we need to perform under the Administration Agreement.
- PMI may enter into acquisitions that may be difficult to integrate, fail to achieve our strategic objectives, disrupt our business or divert management attention.
- Events beyond our control may damage our ability to maintain adequate records, maintain our marketplace or perform the servicing obligations. If such events result in a system failure, investors’ ability to receive principal and interest payments on the Notes would be substantially harmed.
- Events beyond our control, such as public health emergencies, international conflicts, natural disasters, or other catastrophic events, may damage our ability to continue operations without disruptions, including our ability to attract new borrowers and investors, retain existing investors, as well as the ability of existing borrowers to repay their loans. If such events continued for an extended period of time and PFL is unable to attract sufficient investor purchase commitments from new and existing investors, our business and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
- Increasing interest rates have adversely impacted and could materially and adversely impact our personal loan marketplace, our Credit Card program, and our investments in Borrower Loans.
- RISKS RELATED TO COMPLIANCE AND REGULATION
- There continues to be uncertainty as to how the actions of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or any other new agency could impact our business or that of our issuing bank.
- Noncompliance with laws and regulations may impair our ability to facilitate the origination of or service Borrower Loans.
- If our marketplace were found to violate a state's usury laws, we may have to alter our business model and our business could be harmed.
- We rely on agreements with WebBank, pursuant to which WebBank originates personal loans on a uniform basis to qualified borrowers throughout the United States and sells and assigns those loans to PFL. If our relationships with WebBank were to end, we may need to rely on individual state lending licenses or partner with a different bank to offer Borrower Loans.
- Several lawsuits have sought to recharacterize certain loan marketers and other originators as lenders. If litigation or a regulatory enforcement action on similar theories were successful against one or both of PMI and PFL, Borrower Loans originated through our marketplace could be subject to state consumer protection laws and licensing requirements in a greater number of states.
- As online commerce develops, federal and state governments may draft and propose new laws to regulate commerce over the Internet, which may negatively affect our businesses.
- If one or both of PMI and PFL is required to register under the Investment Company Act, either of our ability to conduct business could be materially adversely affected.
- If one or both of PMI and PFL is required to register under the Investment Advisers Act, either of our ability to conduct business could be materially adversely affected.
- PMI's administration of Quick Invest under its previous offering and PFL’s administration of Quick Invest, Recurring Investment, and Auto Invest under its current offering, could create additional liability for PFL and such liability could be material.
- We may face liability under state and federal securities law for statements in our prospectus and in other communications that could be deemed to be an offer to the extent that such statements are deemed to be false or misleading.
- PMI and PFL’s activities in connection with the offer and sale of securities through our marketplace could result in potential violations of federal securities law and result in material liability to PFL and/or PMI.