Can. But now illegal. Still can. Just don't get caught! Remember what they said during our National Service time? Can do anything we want, just don't... Court dismisses moneylender’s bid to bankrupt debtor charged 240% annual interest rate The highest interest a fellow blogger got from his peer-to-peer lending "investments" is 18% interest per annum. Already a sizable "discount" from the 25% that credit card companies charge for unsecured "loans" from individuals... But if we compare against high yielding junk bonds, 18% is a lot better than the 6.5% yield Swiber bond holders got. Well, so much for accredited investor "status"... Some learnt the hard way that seeking out a vehicle yourself that you bought into is not the same as the one you were sold to. Bond traders were once upon a time known as Masters of the Universe. I personally think they still are. There is a reason why there are so few retail bond investors/traders out there. OK, I'll concede the minimum $250K a lot is one deterrent. But we have the retail friendly Singapore Savings Bonds. Why the lack of retail interest? I think we know the answer intuitively. To be in the usury business, we need to be smart. Not just smart; but brilliant smart! And be really great with numbers! What's the similarity and difference between bond traders and illegal money lenders? Both know how to price risk; the difference is that one got education at the right schools, the other just happen to have little schooling despite having a high IQ. New readers may want to read this 2011 post of mine: Can you lend me some money?

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Singapore Man of Leisure (welcome to my blog; just google it!)