Yes, IOU Central is now currently operating under what they call "Limited Functionality". If you do have funds in your IOU Central "account", I don't see any reason to not transfer it back into your regular bank account.

From what I have heard from the company, a provincial regulator requested that they stop conducting any more loans, but they're allowed to service current loans. I have tried to follow-up with the regulator to confirm, but of course, Friday afternoon isn't very productive for these kinds of things. Anyways, I have sent out an email and I'll make a call on Monday, but unfortunately, I am rather busy on Mondays as well.

It would've been nice if they had sent out a global email, but I'm mostly happy with how they handled it (but looks like some others actually did see "IOUCentral is currently unavailable" messages, which would be a bit scary).

With the amount of interest they had already ub tgeur servuce, even if they were thinking of running with the money, I think they would be stupid to do so. It looks like they would likely have much greater rewards by building up their business. You should see how many people still come to this site just searching for "Prosper.com for Canadians". The interest is out there (pun not really intended). Hopefully they get this sorted out (and keep us updated!!!).

Interestingly, IOU Central no longer advertises its CDIC pass-through insurance. I honestly don't even make a big deal of this: My understanding of it is that they keep all deposits inside their National Bank of Canada bank account (A reputable bank, but not well known outside of Quebec). They indeed continue to keep their/your funds in that bank account or so they claim. Basically, they're not putting your deposits in a risky money-market account or stocks, but rather into a checking/savings account. Therefore, it is CDIC protected, just not in your name :) Paypal has the same sort of thing with the FDIC (But perhaps in an official manner). I take it the CDIC balked at them calling it this, therefore the changes.

So, my guess is that the regulators want to treat them as if they were a deposit-taking institution, in other words, a bank. I don't really agree with this, as they merely transfer accounts from one bank or credit union into their bank account (through the National Bank of Canada). Paypal does very much the same in Canada, and the Canadian banks continue to freely allow transfers to and from your Paypal account and bank account. Though there may be other concerns that I'm not aware of. This _is_ a new industry, so it really is hard to determine how (and if) the old rules apply to them.

I wish them luck and like I said, hopefully this all gets sorted out.