This week, CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a Washington-based policy and research center, announced the launch of its Financial Inclusion Regulation Center (Regulation Center). Continue Reading »

The Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization, recently announced the official launch of “Mifos.com,” a website that it will use to promote Mifos, its free, open-source microfinance institution (MFI) management software package. Continue Reading »

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, recently released “Latin America and the Caribbean Benchmarks 2009” which compares performance indicators for microfinance institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Continue Reading »

MicroSave, a technical assistance, training and technical resource center for microfinance established in Uganda in 1998, has released the third publication under its Optimising Performance and Efficiency (OPE) Series, entitled “The Savings Booklet.” Continue Reading »

The Association of Karnataka Microfinance Institutions (AKMI), a community development and advocacy organization in rural Karnataka, India, recently announced the release of an independent report on last year’s delinquency crisis in the region. Continue Reading »

responsAbility Microfinanz-Fonds and responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF), microfinance investment vehicles managed by responsAbility Social Investments AG of Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital the details of five debt investments made during the month of July 2010, totaling the equivalent of USD 3.77 million. Continue Reading »

SKS Microfinance’s recently issued public offering listed for public trade on August 16, 2010 on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India. Continue Reading »

Mr Joseph Grenny, CEO of Unitus Inc., a US-based international nonprofit organization, recently responded to concerns regarding its announcement that it will be discontinuing its microcredit operations and regarding the use of its proceeds from the initial public offering of SKS Microfinance. Continue Reading »

Bankers without Borders (BwB), a volunteer program started in 2008 by the Grameen Foundation that supports microfinance and technology initiatives related to finance in poor countries, has received an investment of USD 150,000 in seed capital from JP Morgan’s Social Finance Unit to expand its services in the Americas and Asia as the “Alliance Program.” Continue Reading »

By Adrian Gonzalez, published by the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), August 2010, 15 pages, available at http://www.themix.org/sites/default/files/MIX%20Data%20Brief%207.pdf.

Adrian Gonzalez, a lead researcher for the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), conducted an econometric analysis to investigate whether there is a tradeoff between social performance (SP) and financial performance (FP) among microfinance institutions (MFIs) that reported data to MIX for the year 2008. Continue Reading »

The Omidyar Network, a firm based in the US that invests in and gives grants to socially-oriented organizations, recently announced that it has committed USD 5 million in grant funding to Kiva, an online microfinance intermediary, over a period of three years. Continue Reading »

CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center housed at the World Bank Group, recently responded to proposals made by Dr Sanjay Sinha, managing director at Micro-Credit Ratings International (M-CRIL), which were presented in a recent article covered by MicroCapital on July 15, 2010. Continue Reading »

Wall’s Street Advisor Services (WSAS), an independent investment research consultancy, released the first of a new series of benchmarks for equity investments in microfinance institutions (MFIs) – the WSAS MFI Shareholder Value Indexes (SVIX). Continue Reading »

When SKS Microfinance launched India’s first initial public offering (IPO) on July 28, 2010, the total share issue received bids for 13.55 times the overall shares on offer, with the institutional share offer oversubscribed by 20.3 times. Continue Reading »

The Knowledge-Driven International Development (KDID) Portal is a family of websites established to maximize the effectiveness of economic development assistance by connecting development practitioners to spread innovation and good practice. Continue Reading »

Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization, recently announced that it has received grants totaling USD 125,000 from the US-based microfinance funder, Citi Foundation. USD 100,000 is directed to Grameen’s efforts to improve human capital management practices at microfinance institutions (MFIs), while the remaining USD 25,000 is in support of Grameen’s broader strategic initiatives. The details of these broader initiatives have not been specified. Continue Reading »

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international finance institution headquartered in London, is providing a loan of KGS 67.5 million (USD 1.5 million) to Bai Tushum and Partners, a microfinance institution (MFI) in the Kyrgyz Republic, for on-lending to micro- and small enterprises (MSEs). This constitutes the first of two equal tranches under a KGS 135 million (USD 3 million) loan agreement signed in March 2010. According to EBRD, the transaction is part of a USD 60 million non-bank MFI framework for “Early Transition Countries,” which was approved by EBRD in September 2008. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, will provide financing of USD 25 million to Federal Bank, a private commercial bank in India, to improve support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to boost international trade opportunities. The deal will “facilitate transactions in challenging markets, promote competitive financing and build bank relationships with new institutions, thereby reducing risk and enabling more smaller businesses to engage in trade.” Continue Reading »