Regulation is here, is membership of the UKCFA/P2PFA needed

Membership of a trade body gives you 'credibility' Andrew to those that do not know you. Once you've got a track record under your belt then it doesn't matter with those that have invested money satisfactorily. Until then though it's a toe dipping exercise and lack of membership often throws up the question ' why is ABC company a member of whatever and XYZ company not a member'. The P2PFA though isn't exactly a high profile organisation is it?

Now having said that, it all depends upon cost and benefits. The company I was with were members of the FSA and a well known trade organisation. Unfortunately the trade organisation rules were not in tune with the FSA so it was occasionally a damned if you do and damned it you don't scenario. We were thinking of leaving the trade organisation until they overnight increased their membership fees and that alone made our decision for us.

Apart from credibility which will be automatic once the FCA 'take over', I frankly have no idea exactly what the P2PFA actually does. Do they really act as a lobbying body in the real world or is it just a talking shop?

Irrespective, whatever the P2PFA manages to obtain for it's member companies then AC would automatically benefit. But then again it requires membership subscriptions to exist. So I think this has to be an AC call.

From my point of view it makes no difference to me personally.

Membership can work both ways and it depends on whether the trade bodies have any teeth and are willing to use them publicly or whether they are there to give members a veneer of respectability. Membership of a number trade bodies that I come across is just a gloss that gives the members an air of credibility and so long as members pay their fees they stay a members regardless of how they behave and what they do and as a result some of the good members get tarred with the same brush. 

I think it should be down to what the trade bodies are fighting for. If, in this case, they're representing lenders interests as a lobbying body; for examplr lobbying for inclusion of P2P loand in ISAs and more favourable tax treatment for defaults, then I think joining them would be a worthwhile exercise. If they're just a talking shop more interested in creating barriers to enty, then there's not much point. It depends I suppose...

I have not been with AC for very long but am now comfortable with you as an organisation so for me joining either body would make no difference - unless it affected AC detrimentally and impacted the way you do business. In November I went to the Thincats conference and it seemed from the discussions then that the costs could be quite onerous - something which neither the borrowers or lenders would want.
Generally these regulatory bodies do little other than cause more red tape and we have seen how ineffectual some of them are.
My vote would be to hold your fire and see how it settles down and then make a decision as to whether or not you want to join either.

No they certainly aren't regulatory Mike. Whether they actually do any good is also debatable especially with the FCA on the horizon which will not be a negligible cost that's for sure.

Whether the benefits of membership outweigh the costs of the voluntary bodies only AC can determine.

I'm not sure we are the right sample group for the poll result to be particularly meaningful. For those of us who are currently investing in AC loans there is no immediate benefit of P2PFA membership other than the perception that your views may attract more attention via a trade body than being a lone voice outside.

The more relevant sample group is that of newcomers to P2P/P2B ... who first hear about the sector via the media where the inevitable first steps into the sector are via zopa, ratesetter and possibly funding circle. Who just happen to be the founding members of the P2PFA. Intuitively regulation is going to cause some of the smaller players problems, but its going to take some time (18 months ??) for the fallout to be apparent. What better indicator of the likelihood of achieving compliance with regulation, than membership of the P2PFA who already have a set of principles which in theory shouldn't be that far off the eventual mark.

The answer probably comes down to who do you want to target as new lenders to the platform over the next 18 months. If it is lenders who may start small and grow bigger over time, then membership of the P2PFA in my view is desirable. I know a number of my colleagues are eyeing up P2P/P2B as a potential solution to investing the 25% tax free pension withdrawal at retirement, and are currently researching the sector.

Edited to add:

With your three closest competitors in terms of the types of loan offered ( Thincats, LendInvest and Wellesley ) all now members of the P2PFA those on the outside are increasingly looking out of step.