Return to top
NewsWatch:
This page will stop being updated shortly. You can subscribe to Tameo’s NewsWatch
here
to keep yourself informed about recent industry happenings.
Learn more about Tameo.
Archives:
- 2021
- 2020
- 2019
- 2018
- 2017
- 2016
- 2015
- 2014
- 2013
- 2012
- 2011
- 2010
- 2009
- 2008
- 2007
- 2006
- 2005
The Financial Inclusion Balancing Act
June, 30 2019
Global - Most fintech startups espouse two lofty goals: disrupting the banks and serving the underserved. But 20 years after Elon Musk founded the early fintech X.com (it later became PayPal), banks still dominate in almost every economy in the world
...
Vulcan Capital Seeds the Launch of TriLinc’s Private Debt Fund
June, 28 2019
Global - Vulcan Capital, the multi-billion-dollar investment arm of Vulcan Inc., has again selected TriLinc Global Advisors LLC to seed the launch of its new TriLinc Global Sustainable Income Fund II LLC, a Regulation D private placement offering with a target raise of $300 million
...
Invest in Small Business and Reap Big Rewards
June, 28 2019
Global - On 27 June, the day dedicated to celebrating micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (World MSME Day), UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi called on both big business and governments to invest more in these first responders to societal needs
...
Nepal Financial Inclusion: Banking on Top of the World
June, 28 2019
Nepal - Nepal’s government wants everyone to have access to a bank and has ordered a branch in each of the country’s 753 districts. Asiamoney journeys to one of the poorest and most remote parts of Asia, high in the Himalayas, to see if its grand financial-inclusion plan is working
...
3 Ways to Deepen Our Understanding of Women’s Financial Inclusion
June, 27 2019
Global - How do we stop generalizing about impacts of financial services on women and get to a more nuanced understanding? FinEquity is a global community of practice convened by CGAP to advance women’s financial inclusion. Its members have significant experience, tools and approaches for answering such questions
...
Five Facts on Fintech
June, 27 2019
Global - A new paper details the results of the survey alongside findings from other regional studies, and also identifies areas for international cooperation—including roles for the IMF and World Bank—and in which further work is needed by governments, international organizations, and standard-setting bodies
...
Refugee Lens Investing Arrives
June, 27 2019
Global - In June, the Refugee Investment Network launched an impact investing and blended finance collaborative connecting investors with refugee ventures
...
Impact Investing’s ‘Third Phase’: What New Challenges Lie Ahead?
June, 27 2019
Global - The impact investing space has evolved over the past decade in distinct phases, from being a niche market created by mission-diven innovators to become a mainstream product offered by wealth advisors and institutional investors. It is time to reflect on how successful impact investing has been in achieving its original goals.
...
ESG Investors Need a Single Standard to Measure Impact
June, 26 2019
Global - Despite a growing enthusiasm for impact investment, many asset owners are constrained because of a baffling array of unverified, opaque and incompatible measurement frameworks. James Magor of Actis says this is something his company is trying to help address with its open-source Actis Impact Score
...
New Rules to Protect Kenyan Sacco Members
June, 25 2019
Kenya - Kenya is working on new rules to tame deposit-taking Saccos (DT-Saccos) that fleece members through inflated charges, delays in reimbursement of deposits, and “reckless” lending and debt collection
...
Uganda Hoping to Prosper with Clean Energy Initiative
June, 24 2019
Uganda - In Uganda, clean energy and financial inclusion are coming together within an innovative model headed by FINCA-derived social enterprise, BrightLife. These are early days but the initial indications are positive
...
Kiva Rolls Refugee Fund for Institutional Investors
June, 24 2019
Global - Kiva, known for its crowdsourced lending platform, is making refugees the focus of its first institutional fund. The fund will invest in Kiva’s microfinance partners that have been lending to refugees through Kiva’s World Refugee Fund since 2016.
...
India: Breaking New Ground
June, 21 2019
India - A dynamic business environment, widespread mobile and digital infrastructure and digital finance products are the three building blocks towards achieving the promise of inclusion
...
Ethical Investing Has Reached a Tipping Point
June, 18 2019
Global - 2019 looks as if it will be the year when environmental, social and governance considerations are moving out of a specialised niche into the mainstream. Financiers and chief executives are realising that it can sometimes be more costly to ignore ESG issues
...
IFC Takes Stake in Yoma Bank in First for Myanmar
June, 18 2019
Myanmar - Yoma Bank has become Myanmar’s first commercial lender with a foreign stakeholder following a decision by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to convert a US$5 million loan into a five percent equity shareholding
...
Philippines: SEC Approves Merger of PBB, Insular Savers
June, 13 2019
Philippines - Under the planned merger, which was earlier approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), PBB chairman Alfredo Yao would absorb the entire assets and liabilities of ISBI, allowing it to further strengthen its consumer lending business, while establishing a foothold in the microfinance market
...
Islamic Banking: From Financing to Empowerment
June, 13 2019
MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa - In countries with high Muslim proportions, such as those in the Middle East and Africa—where Islamic banking first put down its roots 55 years ago—the industry has become an important element in their development agendas, for it caters to the financial needs of the people without conflicting with their social and religious values
...
Can You Make Money and Make a Difference?
June, 13 2019
Global - The next decade will see a huge transfer of wealth into the hands of women, who have consistently been shown to have more positive attitudes towards social investing than their male counterparts
...
AfDB Boost for Zimbabwe
June, 12 2019
Zimbabwe - FINANCE and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has said the African Development Bank (AfDB) board has endorsed Zimbabwe’s reform agenda under the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP)
...
Institutional Shift: Investment Trends to Watch in the Second Half of 2019
June, 12 2019
Global - The first wave of talent in impact investing came largely from social enterprises or non-governmental organizations. Now, “Almost every firm is reconstituting those groups and bringing in seasoned mainstream investment professionals,” says Equilibrium Capital’s Dave Chen, co-host of ImpactAlpha’s occasional podcast series, “Institutional Shift.
...
The GIIN Founder Provides Impact Investing Definition
June, 12 2019
Global - “Impact investments are investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Impact investments can be made in both emerging and developed markets and target a range of returns from below market to market rate, depending upon investors’ objectives,
...
Colombia Watch: Financial Inclusion Challenges, Bank Charge Impact Warning
June, 12 2019
Colombia - Levels of financial inclusion in Colombia have risen but challenges persist, financial services watchdog Superfinanciera said in a report.The country’s financial inclusion indicator rose 1.3 percentage points last year, bringing the number of adults with at least one financial product to 28mn
...
Ethical Investment Needs More Transparency
June, 11 2019
Global - There is an urgent need for a framework for investment that contributes to the positive impact of business on society and the environment. Investors, and the companies they back, can ill-afford to wait centuries for that framework to emerge
...
UOB Venture Management Expands Impact Investing Initiative
June, 11 2019
Asia - UOB Venture Management (UOBVM) announced on June 10 the expansion of its impact investing efforts with the launch of its second impact fund in the second half of this year. Focused on Asia, the new private equity fund is the second series of UOBVM’s Asia Impact Investment Fund (AIIF II).
...
Spanish Government Signs Up to the GSG for Impact Investment
June, 10 2019
Spain - The Spanish government has joined UK's Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) thanks to the promotion of Spain's Foro Impacto (Impact Forum), an association that seeks to achieve the objectives of sustainable development of the 2030 agenda of the UN through the promotion of impact investments
...
Harvard Course Teaches Rich Millennials How to Do Good (and Make Money)
June, 09 2019
World - The graduates represent a quiet insurgency among the world’s wealthy millennials. As their peers march to protest climate change and inequality, these privileged few are arming themselves with the skills and arguments they need to convince their families -- often against bankers’ advice -- to make more “impact investments” that are designed to benefit society as well as turn a profit
...
India: Way Forward for Microfinance
June, 07 2019
India - The role of microfinance in financial inclusion, poverty alleviation and woman empowerment is proven. The industry needs to find a balance between commercial goals and social good
...
A Bigger Role for Green Bonds
June, 05 2019
Global - A decade ago, green bonds were virtually non-existent. Today, they are a rapidly growing asset class, bringing much-needed new capital not just to the clean energy sector but to energy-efficient buildings, sustainable land use, waste, water and transport. According to the Climate Bonds Initiative, global green finance needs to reach $1tn by the end of 2020 and continue to grow each year thereafter
...
Acumen Launches 60 Decibels to Make Lean Data an Impact Measurement Standard for Impact Investing
June, 05 2019
Global - Acumen today announced the spin out of Lean Data SM, its unique approach to impact measurement, into a separate social enterprise, 60 Decibels. By creating a standalone company, Acumen and 60 Decibels aim to accelerate the adoption of Lean Data and set a new standard for how impact is measured by social enterprises, impact investors and the international development sector as a whole
...
The Untold Story of Indian ‘Payment Banks’
June, 05 2019
India - A Payment Bank (PB) is nothing less than a deposit account. In general, PBs can facilitate money deposit of up to ₹1 lakh, further offering remittance service, mobile payments, ATM/debit card facility and third-party fund transfer but excludes advancing loans or issuing credit cards. The entire idea is to propel the usage digitally with the help of the facilitator (PB).
...
ESG Funds: How to Invest in a Sustainable Future
June, 05 2019
Global - Better sustainability practices are becoming increasingly important to both companies and investors. Consequently, globally common ESG funds, which score environment, social and governance factors, are starting to find a place in Indi
...
DRC Makes Slow Progress in Path to Financial Inclusion
June, 03 2019
DRC - Financial inclusion figures are slowly improving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but still fall short of other African countries. However, the mood is largely optimistic with regards to making faster progress
...
Impact Investors Say Finding Suitable Companies Is a Challenge
June, 03 2019
Global - In a survey by KBI Global Investors, the Dublin investment manager, institutional investors and consultants said their top concern was finding unlisted companies that fulfil the idea of an appropriate mission and provide a suitable place to park funds
...
Bank of Ghana Revokes Licenses of 39 Insolvent Micro-Credit Companies
June, 01 2019
Ghana - Going forward, the BOG is strengthening its regulatory and supervisory framework, and promoting confidence in the microcredit sector through a comprehensive review of licensing and supervisory policies and directives and a review of the minimum capital requirements
...
2.55% · 
4.46% · 
-1.88% · 
product.
