The board of Indian microfinance institution (MFI) SKS Microfinance reportedly has approved plans to raise INR 900 crore (approximately USD 184 million) through a qualified institutional placement (QIP), whereby newly-issued shares will be sold to institutional investors [1]. Continue Reading »

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Filipino central bank, reportedly has announced that microfinance borrowing in the country has increased from PHP 6.5 billion (USD 151.7 million) in 2010 to PHP 7.3 billion (USD 170.3 million) as of November 2011. This includes data from 202 microfinance institutions in the country, mostly based in and around the Manila metropolitan area.The total number of borrowers at these institutions has increased from 932,622 in 2010 to 979,353.  Continue Reading »

A recent document published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s central banking authority, introduces a standalone category for “non-banking financial company—microfinance institutions” (NBFC-MFIs) as was proposed by the Malegam Committee, an RBI-appointed panel headed by RBI board member YH Malegam. Continue Reading »

As borrowers in Nepal reportedly have begun receiving loans from multiple microfinance institutions (MFIs), MFIs in the country have requested that a credit information bureau be created to allow them to share information on potential clients to avoid duplicative lending. Continue Reading »

Three Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs), Spandana Sphoorty Financial, Share Microfin and Asmitha Microfin, have reportedly cancelled a potential merger on which MicroCapital had reported in August. Continue Reading »

Trident Microfin, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, reportedly has received a legal notice from Kotak Bank, an Indian commercial bank, for defaulting on a loan it received from Kotak. Continue Reading »

Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea Company Limited (AMK), a deposit-taking microfinance institution (MFI) in Cambodia, has been awarded the second Giordano Dell’Amore Microfinance Best Practices International Award 2011 by the Italian foundation Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore [1]. Continue Reading »

Indian firm Aavishkaar Venture Management has reportedly completed the first close of its new fund, Aavishkar India II, having raised the equivalent of USD 62 million. Aavishkaar and its funds aim to expand rural opportunities in India through investments in enterprises catering to the poorest segments of the population. Continue Reading »

Beema Samiti, the insurance regulatory authority of Nepal, recently has been mandated by the country’s finance ministry to identify 10 rural districts in which microinsurance programs will be implemented [1]. Continue Reading »

BPI Globe BanKO, the mobile microfinance affiliate of the Bank of Philippines Islands (BPI), reportedly announced that it is launching three microinsurance products in collaboration with two other affiliates of BPI, BPI-Philam Life Assurance Corporation (BPI-Philam) and BPI/Mitsui Sumimoto Insurance Corporation (BPI/MS) [1]. Continue Reading »

The finance ministry in India is drafting a Microfinance Institutions (Development and Regulation) Bill which will allow microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India to collect deposits from self-help groups (SHGs) and SHG members. Continue Reading »

Event Name: 3rd Indonesia Microfinance Conference: Responsible Microfinance to Achieve Greater Financial Inclusion in Indonesia

Event Date: November 30 – December 1, 2011

Event Location: Jakarta, Indonesia Continue Reading »

Share Microfin, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), has reportedly reached agreements with a number of banks, including ICICI Bank Limited, to restructure debt owed by Share worth about INR 12 billion (USD 245 million). Continue Reading »

The Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation Incorporated (RBRDFI), the research and development arm of the nonprofit Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), has been offering training on microinsurance to local rural banks, of which seven have so far been licensed to offer microinsurance services by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, and the Insurance Commission (IC), which regulates the country’s insurance industry. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution headquartered in London, announced recently that it has committed to loan the equivalent of USD 2 million in the local currency, somoni, to Frontiers Microlending Company (Frontiers), a Kyrgyzstan-based non-bank microfinance institution, to serve the “lower end of the microfinance market in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan” [1]. Continue Reading »

Trickle Up, US-based nonprofit that aims to alleviate poverty in poor countries, recently released a study “And Who Listens to the Poor?’ Shocks, Stresses and Safety Nets in India and Pakistan” by Karishma Huda, Sandeep Kaur and Nicolina Lamhauge, documenting the cases of 20 women participants in its 2009 Trickle Up Ultra Poor Pilot Program [1]. Continue Reading »

Standard Chartered Indonesia, a branch of the London-based bank Standard Chartered PLC, has announced that it will loan IDR 30 billion (USD 3.3 million) to Bank Andara, an Indonesian wholesale lender to microfinance institutions (MFIs), to expand its services to MFIs in Indonesia [1]. Continue Reading »

Triodos Investment Management, a Netherlands-based manager of four microfinance investment funds, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has invested an undisclosed amount of funds in four microfinance institutions (MFIs): Advans Ghana Savings and Loans Limited, KixiCrédito of Angola, TYM Fund of Vietnam and Belarusian Bank for Small Business (BBSB) [1]. Continue Reading »