Well, LC doesn't do deposits, so it is not doing partial reserve banking. I suppose there could be extra regulation attached to what they do, but I don't think it is much different than a message board that connects buyers and lenders at its core.
While LC is not a bank -- and not subject to banking regulations -- its not at all a "message board that connects buyers to lenders". While it initially was something like that (and still has some superficial resemblance to it), lending is a tightly regulated industry, and there'd be a very narrow market if it it tried to actually be that, rather than being the lender itself and selling notes tied to its loans (essentially, a key part of the service LC is providing is dealing with the regulatory compliance with regard to lending.) This is the same model as is used by other superficially "peer-to-peer" lending services (e.g., Prosper.com)
