Bandhan Financial Services, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), has sold INR 550 crore (USD 112 million) of its agricultural loan portfolio to the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), a public – sector bank; Axis Bank, an Indian financial services company; and Development Credit Bank, an Indian private – sector bank, according to a statement attributed to Banhan managing director Chandra Shekhar Ghosh. Continue Reading »

SKS Microfinance Limited (SKS), a non-banking finance company (NBFC) regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), reportedly has raised INR 354 crore (USD 72 million) from an undisclosed public-sector bank and INR 243 crore (USD 49.6 million) from an undisclosed source [1] [2]. Continue Reading »

The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), a public-private partnership, and the Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN), a network of 20 microfinance providers in Pakistan, have launched MicroEYE, a tool that maps the competitive landscape of microfinance in Pakistan. Continue Reading »

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the country’s central banking authority, has set a target of disbursing PKR 12.2 billion (USD 134 million) to microfinance banks to deliver credit to the agricultural sector during fiscal year 2012. Continue Reading »

In India’s Andhra Pradesh state, the government is pushing ahead with 76 criminal cases against employees of Indian microlenders, accusing them of pushing poor debt-ridden residents to suicide. Continue Reading »

Earlier this year, Equitas Micro Finance India Private Limited (Equitas) demerged its microfinance business. Continue Reading »

Data collected by the Associated Press, a US-based news agency, reportedly implies that top officials of Indian microlender SKS Microfinance have had information implicating company employees in some of the approximately 200 suicides that were reported among poor and debt-ridden residents of the Andhra Pradesh region of India in late 2010. Continue Reading »

The Nepali insurance board, Beema Samiti, is reportedly preparing to release guidelines in March 2012 for various microinsurance programs intended to serve low-income and rural populations. Continue Reading »

Au Financiers, a non-banking financial company in Rajasthan, India, reportedly will establish Au Housing Finance Private Limited (AHFPL), an Indian housing company, to “cater to the un-served and under-served markets, predominantly in the low income state of Rajasthan” [1]. Continue Reading »

The work of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Bangladesh was originally dominated by the original model implemented by the Grameen Bank, an MFI founded in 1976 by Dr Muhammad Yunus. Continue Reading »

Vimo SEWA, a woman’s insurance cooperative in India promoted by the nongovernmental organization Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), has partnered with L&T Insurance, an Indian insurance company, to become L&T’s first microinsurance agent. Continue Reading »

BNP Paribas China, a branch of the France-based financial services provider BNP Paribas, has disbursed a loan in local currency equivalent to USD 2.3 million to Chinese microfinance institution (MFI) MicroCred Nanchong, a member of the France-based MicroCred. Continue Reading »

The government-owned People’s Bank of China reportedly stated that the number of institutions disbursing microcredit in the nation rose 64 percent to 4,282 from December 2010 to December 2011. Continue Reading »

Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility) recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans totaling the equivalent of USD 3.6 million to several Cambodian microfinance institutions (MFIs). Continue Reading »

The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, recently released a circular amending the minimum requirements for banks offering micro-agri loans [1]. Continue Reading »

Dr Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, recently partnered with the Indian Institute of Management- Ahmedabad (IIM-A), a public business school, to pool a INR 50 crore (USD 10.1 million) investment fund for social ventures. Continue Reading »

During the quarter that ended on December 31, 2011, Indian commercial microfinance institution SKS Microfinance Limited (SKS) suffered net losses of INR 4.28 billion (USD 85.3 million), 11 percent higher than net losses in the previous quarter. Continue Reading »

Lavenia Baro, manager of the Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) Microfinance Unit, reportedly has stated that a recent financial literacy session focusing on small businesses “will help participants manage their weekly cash flow” [1]. Continue Reading »