The government of Sri Lanka has recently approved a draft microfinance bill to set up a Microfinance Regulatory and Supervisory Authority. An article from LankaBusinessOnline.com, a Sri Lankan business news website, reports that new authority will license, register, regulate and supervise micro-finance institutions whether they are companies, non-governmental organizations or cooperative societies.

A previous effort to regulate micro-finance institutions in 2006 through the central bank was abandoned because a separate, independent authority was deemed more appropriate, the article said.

By Matthew Fox, Research Assistant

Sources and Additional Resources:

LankaBusinessOnline: Sri Lanka to regulate micro-finance institutions, 22 July 2010: http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?nid=1421477555