Agora Microfinance Partners LLP, a London-based outfit that invests equity in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Asia and Africa, will launch the Agora Microfinance Fund in early 2011. The microfinance investment vehicle will be the first microfinance investment fund managed by Agora Microfinance Partners, which currently invests via Mauritius-based investment vehicle Moringaway. Continue Reading »

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s central banking authority, has temporarily relaxed asset classification rules for bank loans to the microfinance sector, allowing commercial banks to classify loans made to microfinance institutions (MFIs) as standard assets. Under the standard guidelines, banks had to classify loans made to MFIs as unsecured assets, which required a higher minimum provision than do standard assets [1]. Continue Reading »

The government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) is considering a bill that would make it compulsory for microfinance institutions (MFIs) to compensate the families of borrowers who commit suicide as a result of heavy debt burdens. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a trade association of Indian microfinance lenders, has set up a committee to investigate claims that SKS Microfinance, a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI); SHARE Microfin, a regulated non-banking finance company (NBFC); and Spandana Sphoorty, another for-profit MFI, took advantage of clients through the use of mutual benefit trusts (MBTs) to converting the institutions into for-profit entities. Continue Reading »

A new book from Asian Development Bank (ADB)—Rural Finance in Poverty-Stricken Areas in the People’s Republic of China—pushes for reforms in China’s rural finance industry, including its microfinance industry, that it argues would help small businesses and alleviate poverty. Continue Reading »

MFTransparency, a US-based nongovernmental organization that aims to provide information on credit products and pricing in a clear and uniform fashion, recently released the pricing data report of its Transparent Pricing Initiative in India. Continue Reading »

The board of directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a development finance organization based in Manila, Philippines, has approved a USD 2 million grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, an investment fund that is administered by ADB and funded by the government of Japan, for the development of remittance services for Bangladeshi migrant workers. Continue Reading »

Islamic Microfinance Network (IMFN) has recently launched in Pakistan with the aim to provide a common platform for Islamic microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world. Headquartered in Lahore, the network is also looking to establish regional offices in Ghana, Mauritius and the Middle East. Continue Reading »

Skoch Consultancy Services Private Limited, a strategic planning and management consulting firm based in India, has presented Indian Bank, a bank owned by the government of India, with the Skoch Financial Inclusion Award 2011 for its work serving self-help groups (SHGs) in urban areas. Continue Reading »

The Microcredit Summit Campaign, a project that was launched in 1997 by US-based nonprofit advocacy group RESULTS Educational Fund (REF), today released a report indicating that between 1990 and 2008 approximately 10 million Bangladeshis rose above the international poverty line of USD 1.25 a day. Continue Reading »

According to Indian rating agencies Credit Rating and Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) and ICRA Limited (formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India), a recent proposal by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s central banking authority, to regulate the country’s microfinance industry will result in slower growth and smaller profits for microfinance institutions (MFIs) that will lead to a consolidation in the sector. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank Group, a multilateral development finance organization based in Washington DC, will make an INR 1.6 billion (USD 35.1 million) equity investment in Bandhan Financial Services, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kolkata, India, to expand its operations in the country. The deal is reportedly the largest equity investment in an Indian MFI since the turmoil in the microfinance industry in Andhra Pradesh began in late 2010. Continue Reading »

A committee headed by Y H Malegam, central board director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s central banking authority, met last week and proposed that microfinance institutions (MFIs) should be allowed to charge a maximum interest rate of 24 percent to borrowers and that loans to a single microborrower should not exceed INR 25,000 (USD 548). Continue Reading »

Since the state government of Andhra Pradesh implemented a law in October 2010 that requires microfinance institutions (MFIs) to get approval from district officials before disbursing loans, it now reportedly takes approximately two months to process loans. Continue Reading »

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) of India, which regulates and promotes microfinance activities in rural areas, recently announced that it is interested in investing in venture capital funds. Continue Reading »

Event Name: TBLI Conference Asia 2011

Event Date: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED FROM MAY UNTIL SEPTEMBER

Event Location: Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo, Chinzan-so, Tokyo, Japan

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By Hongbin Cai, Yuyu Chen, Hanming Fang and Li-An Zhou, published by the University of Pennsylvania, December 2010, 28 pages, available at: http://www.econ.upenn.edu/~hfang/WorkingPaper/sow/insurance11.pdf Continue Reading »

A round table of microinsurance experts organized by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the US-based Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) came together recently to address issues, such as frequent claims against existing microinsurance plans and high administrative costs, that are preventing the expansion of microinsurance in Pakistan. Continue Reading »