• PNC and TCW have partnered to deliver a private credit solution.
• The solution will leverage TCW’s loan origination, underwriting, and portfolio management expertise and will tap PNC’s extensive client relationships.
• The two will offer directly originated, secured cash-flow and asset-based loans to middle market companies.

Financial services company PNC and TCW, a leading global asset manager have teamed up this week to deliver a private credit solution to middle market companies.

The two will leverage TCW’s loan origination, underwriting, and portfolio management expertise and will tap PNC’s extensive client relationships. “We are very excited to announce this new business strategy, which represents a natural extension of TCW’s existing Direct Lending and Rescue Fund strategies with an opportunity to offer investors access to a broader segment of the middle market,” said CIO of TCW Private Credit and chair of the new joint private credit partnership Rick Miller.

The two will offer directly originated, secured cash-flow and asset-based loans to middle market companies, whether or not they have private equity or venture capital backing. Together, PNC and TCW will manage the strategy’s investment activities, which range from origination to underwriting, and portfolio management.

“We are thrilled to partner with PNC to expand our direct lending capabilities and provide financing to a critical segment of U.S. companies, as well as offer a differentiated investment solution for clients,” said TCW President and CEO Katie Koch. “PNC and TCW have a long history of developing creative solutions across a number of joint financings, and this partnership represents an exciting opportunity to capture significant market share of the expanding private credit market by leveraging the strengths of both our firms.”

During their first year, PNC and TCW aim to have $2.5 billion in investor equity capital available to invest. Supporting this fund are investments from PNC and Nippon Life, one of TCW’s strategic partners and shareholders.

Since interest rates have risen and credit has become more expensive, small businesses have become particularly vulnerable to the credit crunch. This vulnerability stems from traditional banks tightening their lending standards to mitigate risk and reduce losses. Delivering a new private credit solution should help address this gap in financing options for small businesses, providing them with much-needed access to capital to support their growth and operations.

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• Robinhood has received a Wells Notice from the U.S. SEC.
• In the Wells Notice, the SEC staff alleged Robinhood violated Sections 15(a) and 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
• Robinhood Markets Chief Legal, Compliance, and Corporate Affairs Officer Dan Gallagher said that he is “disappointed” with the Wells Notice. “We firmly believe that the assets listed on our platform are not securities,” he said.

Stock brokerage app Robinhood is feeling the heat from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today. The California-based company revealed in a blog post over the weekend that it received a Wells Notice from the SEC.

In the Wells Notice, staff at the SEC filed an enforcement action against Robinhood, alleging the company violated Sections 15(a) and 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The former section requires broker-dealers to register with the SEC and become a member of a self-regulatory organization (SRO), such as FINRA. The section aims to ensure that broker-dealers adhere to standards and practices to protect investors. The latter, 17A, establishes the framework for the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC). This section also requires transfer agents to register with the SEC and sets standards to ensure securities transactions are efficiently processed.

According to Robinhood’s 8-K filing, “The potential action may involve a civil injunctive action, public administrative proceeding, and/or a cease-and-desist proceeding and may seek remedies that include an injunction, a cease-and-desist order, disgorgement, pre-judgment interest, civil money penalties, and censure, revocation, and limitations on activities.”

Robinhood has made it clear that it is making efforts to comply with the SEC to resolve the issue. The company originally launched Robinhood Crypto, its crypto trading arm, in early 2018. Robinhood Crypto currently allows customers in 48 states and Washington D.C. to buy, sell, store, and in many cases transfer up to 18 cryptocurrencies.

Robinhood Markets Chief Legal, Compliance, and Corporate Affairs Officer Dan Gallagher said that the company uses a “rigorous review process designed to ensure that it does not list digital asset securities.” The company said it has always been careful not to list certain tokens that the SEC has deemed securities in public actions against other platforms. Robinhood has also steered clear of products, including lending and staking, that may be considered securities.

“After years of good faith attempts to work with the SEC for regulatory clarity including our well-known attempt to ‘come in and register,’ we are disappointed that the agency has decided to issue a Wells Notice related to our U.S. crypto business,” said Gallagher. “We firmly believe that the assets listed on our platform are not securities and we look forward to engaging with the SEC to make clear just how weak any case against Robinhood Crypto would be on both the facts and the law.”

Robinhood has not disclosed any specific actions it plans to take to respond to the SEC’s notice. The company can take action to respond to the allegations before the SEC makes a move to sue or settle with Robinhood to resolve the issue. The company said that the development will impact neither the services it provides nor its end customers’ accounts.

Photo by Divakar Meganathan