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In Lending Club’s S-1 filing in relation to the quiet period, Lending Club listed many risks. (See the S-1). The risks listed are similar, but not exactly like the financial risks Lending Club earlier posted on their website.

The following risk list is from the SEC S-1 filing in which there are more details, but the following list is a good, short description of the risks facing a potential P2P lender.

The risks listed sound rather scary. Although, as I think about them for a moment, none of these listed risks are things that I have not already considered. They are the basics such as “interest rates may change”, “diversify your portfolio”, “bankruptcy can happen”, etc.

RISKS RELATING TO THE NOTES AND THE CORRESPONDING MEMBER LOANS ON WHICH THE NOTES ARE DEPENDENT

You may lose some or all of your initial purchase price for the Notes because the Notes are highly risky and speculative. Only lender members who can bear the loss of their entire purchase price should purchase our Notes.

Payments on the Notes depend entirely on payments we receive in respect of corresponding member loans. If a borrower member fails to make any payments on the corresponding member loan related to your Note, you will not receive any payments on your Note.

The Notes are special, limited obligations of Lending Club only and are not secured by any collateral or guaranteed or insured by any third party.

Member loans are not secured by any collateral or guaranteed or insured by any third party, and you must rely on Lending Club and our designated third-party collection agency to pursue collection against any borrower member.

Borrower member credit information may be inaccurate or may not accurately reflect the borrower member’s creditworthiness, which may cause you to lose part or all of the purchase price you pay for a Note.

Information supplied by borrower members may be inaccurate.

While we take precautions to prevent borrower member fraud, it is possible that fraud may occur and adversely affect your ability to receive the principal and interest payments that you expect to receive on those Notes.

We do not have significant historical performance data about borrower member performance on Lending Club member loans. Default rates on the member loans may increase.

Default rates on the member loans may increase as a result of economic conditions beyond our control and beyond the control of borrower members.

If payments on the corresponding member loans relating to your Notes become more than 30 days overdue, it is likely you will not receive the full principal and interest payments that you expect to receive on your Notes due to collection fees, and you may not recover any of your original purchase price.

The member loans on which the Notes are dependent do not restrict borrower members from incurring additional unsecured or secured debt, nor do they require the borrower member’s debt-to-income ratio to remain fixed during the term of the member loan, which may impair your ability to receive the full principal and interest payments that you expect to receive on a Note.

The member loans do not contain any cross-default or similar provisions. If borrower members default on their debt obligations other than on the member loans, the ability to collect on member loans on which your Notes are dependent may be substantially impaired.

Borrower members may seek the protection of debtor relief under federal bankruptcy or state insolvency laws, which may result in the nonpayment of your Notes.

Federal law entitles borrower members who enter active military service to an interest rate cap and certain other rights that may inhibit the ability to collect on loans and reduce the amount of interest paid on the corresponding Notes.

The death of a borrower member may substantially impair your ability to recoup the full purchase price of Notes that are dependent on the member loans to that borrower member or to receive the interest payments that you expect to receive on the Notes.

The Lending Club platform allows a borrower member to prepay a member loan at any time without penalty. Borrower member loan prepayments will extinguish or limit your ability to receive additional interest payments on a Note.

Prevailing interest rates may change during the terms of the member loans on which your Notes are dependent. If this occurs, you may receive less value from your purchase of the Notes in comparison to other ways you may invest your money. Additionally, borrower members may prepay their member loans due to changes in interest rates, and you may not be able to redeploy the amounts you receive from prepayments in a way that offers you the return you expected to receive from the Notes.

If you do not diversify your Note purchases by buying Notes dependent on the member loans of multiple borrower members, you will increase your risk of losses on the Notes.

The interest rate on lender member funds placed in a Lending Club lender member account is less than the interest rate on member loans on which the Notes are dependent.

The Notes will not be listed on any securities exchange, are not presently transferable and must be held only by Lending Club lender members. You should expect to hold the Notes you purchase until they mature.

The U.S. federal income tax consequences of an investment in the Notes is uncertain.