NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION PANEL ON MICROPLACE
MARCH 19, 2008, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES, OR VIA WEBCAST
eBay’s new online microfinance investment marketplace, MicroPlace advertises the opportunity to “Invest Wisely. End Poverty.” Online microlending has been growing more popular with peer-to-peer offerings such as nonprofit Kiva, which offers socially-minded Americans a way to offer microloans to entrepreneurs in the developing world. However as a broker-dealer, MicroPlace offers investors the opportunity to invest in the working poor and earn both a social and financial return.
The panel will discuss MicroPlace’s potential to reach everyday investors in the United States, as well as the opportunity to help people in developing countries. The panel will also cover questions including:
- How did Microplace and its partners overcome the regulatory obstacles to offering these investments online?
- What impact could MicroPlace have on the way microfinance institutions and networks operate?
- What are the implications of the emergence of microfinance as a new and desirable asset class for investors?
- What is the role and potential impact of support from government and other third-party funders?
The event will also touch on the larger themes of microfinance policy and fighting poverty, including how loans provided by microfinance institutions can sometimes help the working poor acquire assets such as a thriving business, a home and retirement savings, as well as the systemic and institutional challenges the microfinance industry faces in reaching the world’s poor.
Featured speakers will include:
- Tracey Turner, Founder and GM, MicroPlace
- Shari Berenbach, Executive Director, Calvert Foundation
- Robert Mosbacher, Jr, President and CEO, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
- Kate McKee, Senior Advisor, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)
The event is free of charge for both in-person and virtual attendees. Virtual attendees may observe and participate via the conference website starting at 4pm eastern US time. More information and online registration is available at the conference website or by telephone at +1 202 986 2700.
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