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Jan 2011
Daiwa Securities to Launch Microfinance Fund in Japan
January, 31 2011
Tokyo, Japan - Daiwa Securities Group Inc. said Monday it will be the first in Japan to sell an investment trust fund that directly invests in microfinance institutions in developing nations ...
Philippines: High Bank Density and Bigger Profits
January, 31 2011
Manila, Philippines - The Philippines appears to be one of the most "over-banked" countries in the world. A study made for the Bangko Sentral by Dr. Johnny Noe E. Ravalo shows that there are five banking offices in every municipality or city. ...
China: Rural financial reform needed to ease poverty: ADB
January, 30 2011
Beijing, China - China needs to reform its rural financial system if it is to tackle poverty in the countryside and allow agriculture and local businesses to play a strong, long-term role in the domestic economy, says a new book from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) ...
MFIs to Provide Suicide Cover of 5lakh: AP Govt
January, 27 2011
Hyderabad, India - The Andhra Pradesh government has a legislation on its mind that would make it compulsory for the Microfinance companies to pay a compensation of $10,966.39 to families of borrowers who commit suicide because of debt burden ...
Major Dutch Pension Funds, TIAA-CREF Launch Microfinance Principles
January, 27 2011
London, UK - 40 investors sign up to new Principles for Investors in Inclusive Finance ...
Cambodia: Micro-Loan Disbursement Rises 33 Percent in 2010
January, 25 2011
Phnom Penh, Cambiodia - Cambodia's micro-lenders reported 33 percent growth of loan disbursement in 2010 thanks to better business environment after the slowdown in 2009 ...
Colombia: For the Poor, a New Way to Protect Against Disaster
January, 24 2011
Barranquilla, Colombia - Microfinance was going to be the answer to poverty. Is microinsurance now the new panacea? Before a sales team for Liberty Mutual fanned out into a crime-infested slum to sell insurance, the venders bowed their heads, asking god to bless their work and protect them from thieves ...
Kenya: MFIs Seek Access to Data on Serial Loan Defaulters
January, 24 2011
Nairobi, Kenya - Microfinance institutions are seeking to access information on serial loan defaulters to avoid giving credit to blacklisted borrowers, but commercial banks are hesitant to share their data on bad debtors with the micro lenders ...
India: SKS Microfinance Oct-Dec Net Down 38.41 pct
January, 24 2011
Mumbai, India - SKS Microfinance, India's largest and only listed microfinance lender, said on Monday it posted a 38 percent drop in net profit for Oct-Dec to 341.55 million rupees on total income of 3.85 billion rupees ...
Mexico: Compartamos Likely To Look South For Expansion
January, 24 2011
Mexico City, Mexico - Mexican microfinance company Compartamos SAB will likely look south to Latin America as its seeks to expand operations abroad, a company official said Wednesday ...
Georgia: The Number of Micro Finance Organizations Increased from 38 to 47 throughout 2010
January, 24 2011
Georgia - The number of micro finance organizations (MFO) increased by 24% from January of 2010 when there were 38 such organizations to December of 2010 when there were 47 MFOs licensed - according to national bank statistics ...
Interest cap for Indian Small Loans
January, 20 2011
India - India's central bank has recommended an interest cap and tighter lending guidelines for the country's crisis-ridden microfinance companies ...
India: RBI Relaxes Rules to Ease Liquidity Crunch in MFIs
January, 19 2011
Mumbai, India - India's central bank has temporarily relaxed asset classification rules for bank loans to the microfinance sector, a move that it said will allow them to continue lending to the industry. Under the new rules, restructured loans to the microfinance sector, can be classified by banks as standard assets, even though such loans are typically unsecured, the Reserve Bank of India said in a notification on Wednesday ...
Creation Investments Closes Global MFI Fund At $32M
January, 17 2011
Chicago, Illinois - Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund I, a global microfinance-focused private equity fund, has made a final close at $31.8 million. The fund is now eyeing investments in Asia, besides Latin America and Eastern Europe ...
India: IFC Invests Rs 160 Crore in Bandhan MFI
January, 16 2011
New Delhi, India - International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank's investment unit in the private sector, will pick up stakes in Bandhan Financial Services, India's fourth-largest microfinance company, investing Rs 160 crore ...
Sacrificing Microcredit for Megaprofits
January, 14 2011
Dhaka, Bangladesh - In the 1970s, when I began working here on what would eventually be called “microcredit,” one of my goals was to eliminate the presence of loan sharks who grow rich by preying on the poor. In 1983, I founded Grameen Bank to provide small loans that people, especially poor women, could use to bring themselves out of poverty. At that time, I never imagined that one day microcredit would give rise to its own breed of loan sharks ...
Innovation for the Swiss Financial Industry
January, 13 2011
Zurich, Switzerland - responsAbility is launching responsAbility Ventures I, the first venture capital fund under Swiss law investing in companies with development impact. The new vehicle gives qualified investors access to promising early-stage markets at the base of the global income pyramid, investing in companies with high growth potential and development impact ...
Bangladesh to Probe Microfinance Provider
January, 13 2011
Mumbai, India - Bangladesh's government said it would probe Grameen Bank for possible misappropriation of aid funds, more than a month after a documentary film alleged that the microfinance provider illegally diverted funds in the 1990s.Lamiya Morshed, executive director at the Yunus Centre, a resource center for Grameen group's nonprofit businesses, said the bank hadn't received any official correspondence about the probe. ...
Microfinance Crisis: MFIs with Sizeable Presence in Andhra Pradesh on the Brink of Closure
January, 13 2011
Mumbai, India - This is it. We have cash till the end of February or early March. If collections do not pick up by then, we will have to shut down." This doomsday scenario is prophesised by Shiv Narain, chief financial officer of Spandana Sphoorty Financial, India's second largest microfinance institution. ...
India: SKS Microfinance Cuts Lending Rates
January, 11 2011
Mumbai, India - SKS Microfinance Ltd. said it has reduced its "effective" rate of interest to 24.55% a year across India from Tuesday. SKS said also that it now won't collect charges for any credit shield, as well as loan processing fees and card fees ...
Pursuing a Balanced View of Microfinance
January, 11 2011
Geneva, Switzerland - Responding to the coverage of the Indian microfinance crisis. A press release from the Sangham, a group of the world's largest private microfinance investment fund managers, including: BlueOrchard, Deutsche Bank, Developing World Markets, Grassroots Capital, Incofin, MicroVest, Oikocredit, responsAbility, Symbiotics, Triodos Bank, and Triple Jump ...
Philippines: Commercial Banks Offer Credit Bureau Services to Rural Banks
January, 11 2011
Manila, Philippines - In the absence of the national credit information system as mandated by the Credit Information System Act (CISA), rural banks are encouraged to avail of the credit information services offered by the Bankers Association of the Philippines-Credit Bureau Inc. (BAP-CB) ...
Sri Lanka: 20,000 MFIs to be regulated under Micro- Finance regulations: CB Governor
January, 09 2011
Colombo, Sri Lanka - Around 20,000 Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are to be regulated under the Micro- Finance Bill to be presented in parliament soon. ...
A New Microlending Fund for Women Entrepreneurs
January, 06 2011
United States - Kiva and skin-care company Dermalogica launch a campaign to promote microloans for women in the U.S. and overseas ...
India: Ujjivan Raises Rs.40 Crores through Non-Convertible Debentures
January, 05 2011
Bengaluru, India - Bangalore-headquartered, Ujjivan Financial Services, a leading microfinance institution with pan-India presence, has raised INR 40 Crores of debt capital through issuance of listed, secured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to DMW (Cyprus) Limited , a member of the Developing World Markets (DWM) group of companies. Unitus Capital is the exclusive financial advisor and sole arranger of the issue ...
Cambodia: Leopard Cambodia Fund Backs Local Microfinance Group IPR
January, 04 2011
Battambang, Cambodia - Developing market-focused private equity group Leopard Capital has acquired a 33.7 per cent stake in a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI), Intean Poalroath Rongroeurng (IPR) ...
Netherlands: SNS REAAL launches Impact Investing
January, 03 2011
Utrecht, Netherlands - SNS REAAL, the Dutch bancassurance company, today announced that SNS Asset Management, its institutional asset manager, has transferred its microfinance and related impact investment activities to a new unit, SNS Impact Investing ...
India: Banks Agree to Reschedule Loans Given to MFIs
January, 03 2011
India - There could be some reprieve for microfinance institutions. ...

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