According to Leela Rashid, the director of operations of The Microcredit Regularity Authority (MRA) of Bangladesh, the organization will begin to make public the interest rates charged by microfinance institutions (MFIs). Continue Reading »

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank of China, has announced plans to legalize private lending and remove a cap on interest rates charged by microfinance institutions (MFIs). Continue Reading »

India’s Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a self-regulatory organization of 31 of India’s largest microfinance companies, recently said its members will provide borrowers’ names, addresses and loan details to a credit bureau they have created, Alpha Micro Finance Consultants P Ltd (Alpha), in an effort to prevent client overindebtedness and maximize repayment. Continue Reading »

A study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the business information arm of The Economist Group, the producer of The Economist weekly magazine, has ranked the Philippines as first in the world in terms of its microfinance regulatory framework and third in the world in terms of its microfinance business environment, following Peru and Bolivia. Continue Reading »

India’s National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is seeking comments from stakeholders on a draft plan regarding regulation and development in the microfinance industry. Continue Reading »

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has granted a license to Credit Reference Bureau Africa (CRBAfrica) in an effort to provide the banking sector with credit information sharing services. Continue Reading »

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s central bank, has warned that microfinance institutions (MFIs) will be taken off the priority sector lending list if the industry does not improve its governance standards. Continue Reading »

A new CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Focus Note examines “what consumer protection regulation should look like in places where consumers are poor, access to finance is limited, and regulatory capacity is often overstretched.” Continue Reading »

A recent article featured on the CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) website discusses a new series of Policy Framing Notes by regulatory expert Dr David Porteous concerning the tradeoffs that regulators face in trying to encourage healthy competition in the microfinance industry. Continue Reading »

CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) has released the “Technical Guide for Investors on Implementing the Client Protection Principles,” as part of a wider consumer protection campaign focusing on fair lending within the microfinance industry. Continue Reading »

The Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) recently created a National Financial Inclusion Taskforce made up of 11 members, including four private sector representatives, to oversee the extension of financial services to unemployed and impoverished residents of Fiji. According to Sada Reddy, RBF governor, these services include contributing to the establishment of microenterprises to alleviate unemployment. Continue Reading »

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, a committee established by the central bank governors of the Group of Ten countries, has issued for consultation a report entitled “Microfinance Activities and the Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision.” Continue Reading »

Professor Njuguna Ndungu, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), has announced that CBK will review the Micro Finance Act that came into effect in May of 2008. Continue Reading »

According to an article in Business Today Egypt, although Syria has been “a regional front-runner in microfinance regulation, [it] is still struggling to find a sustainable model to finance its rural poor.” Continue Reading »

Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI) PRASAC plans to apply to the National Bank of Camodia (NBC) for a license that would expand its deposit-taking activities. Continue Reading »

A new microfinance bill that was recently introduced in the Indian Parliament would remove the cap on microloan interest rates. Continue Reading »

The Indian government is planning to reintroduce a microfinance bill to Parliament that would significantly impact the regulation of the rapidly growing microfinance industry, which has reportedly been growing at almost 52 percent per year for the last three years in terms of client outreach. Continue Reading »

By Zoran Stanisljevic, based on his interview with Christina Leijonhufvud, Managing Director of the Global Social Sector Finance Group at JP Morgan, published by MicroCapital.org, December 2009, 5 pages, available at http://www.microcapital.org/downloads/whitepapers/Diligence.pdf Continue Reading »