The Indian Ministry of Finance is in the final stages of drafting a new microfinance bill that would transfer all regulatory power over microfinance to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank, in an effort to create a uniform framework for all microfinance institutions (MFIs), according to Indian news website Moneycontrol.com.
Search Results for: Microfinance Institutions Bill India
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance and Social Investment; By Jonathan Conning and Jonathan Morduch; Published by The Financial Access Initiative (FAI) at New York University’s Robert F Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and Hunter College
By Jonathan Conning and Jonathan Morduch; published by Financial Access Initiative (FAI) at New York University’s Robert F Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and Hunter College; April 8, 2011; 30 pages; available at: http://financialaccess.org/sites/default/files/Microfinance%20&%20Social%20Investment_Conning&Morduch.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Mandates Personal Guarantees from Promoters of Microfinance Institutions (MFI) Looking to Restructure Debt
The Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) cell of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), after a unanimous decision, declared that promoters of microlenders will be required to provide personal guarantees in order for their institutions to refinance their debt in the wake of the microfinance turmoil in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh that began in 2010.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Equifax India to Launch Microfinance Credit Bureau In Partnership with Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Prime, ReligareFinvest, Sundaram Finance, Union Bank of India
The Indian unit of Equifax Credit Information Services, a US-based consumer credit reporting agency, has partnered with the following six Indian banks to launch a credit bureau devoted to transactions in the microfinance sector: Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Prime, ReligareFinvest, Sundaram Finance and Union Bank of India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Union Bank of India (UBI) Launching Microfinance Schemes Under “unioninclusions”
Union Bank of India (UBI), a nationalized bank with approximately USD 44 billion in total assets, recently announced the launch of “unioninclusions” in an effort to deepen financial inclusion. Announced in Mumbai by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, India’s Finance Minister, the initiative includes the following five schemes: 1) the opening of 11 specialized financial-inclusion branches; 2) biometric card-to-card remittance facility for migrant laborers; 3) mobile van banking to serve unbanked villages in the state of Odisha; 4) publication of a comic book series intended to spread financial literacy among illiterate people in rural areas; 5) funding solar power for Union Adarsh Gram, a program launched by UBI in June 2010 to adopt 101 rural villages across India to offer development and modernization.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Costs Rise for Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Looking to Securitize Loan Portfolios From 10% to Over 12%
Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs), which have struggled to procure loans from commercial banks since turmoil struck the microfinance industry in Andhra Pradesh in November 2010, have found that raising money by securitizing even their higher-quality loan portfolios has become more expensive.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Release “Eastern Europe and Central Asia Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report 2010”
Two US-based nonprofits, the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) co-published the “Eastern Europe and Central Asia Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report 2010.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: To Counter Liquidity Crunch in India, Grameen Koota, Bandhan, SKS Securitize Loans Disbursed to Women
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India are reportedly securitizing more of the loans they disburse to women in order to raise capital they would likely have borrowed from banks before the liquidity crunch that has affected the microfinance sector since late 2010.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Publishes Working Draft of “Microfinance, Financial Crises, and Fluctuations in Food and Fuel Prices” by Adrian Gonzalez
Microfinance Information Exchange, a US-based, nonprofit data provider, recently drafted a paper entitled “Microfinance, Financial Crises, and Fluctuations in Food and Fuel Prices” that examines the potential impact of large-scale financial crises on the microfinance sector.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Supreme Court Schedules Hearing on Petition Filed by SKS Microfinance Against Over Regulation of Moneylending Act of India’s State of Andhra Pradesh
SKS Microfinance, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), has filed a petition with the Supreme Court of India seeking a stay to prevent the enforcement of the Regulation of Microlending Act issued by the government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Confusion Continues Over Regulation of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in India, State of Andhra Pradesh May Adjust Law to Reconcile With Federal Rules
The Business Standard, an Indian financial newspaper, recently reported that the regulations recently issued for the microfinance sector by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s central banking authority, and the Regulation of Microlending act issued by the government of the state of Andhra Pradesh in 2010 are creating confusion over the regulatory jurisdiction of each entity.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Corporation Bank of India Opens Microfinance Branch
Corporation Bank of India (CorpBank), a government-owned bank based in Karnataka, recently opened a microfinance branch in Hyderabad, the capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Spandana Sphoorty, Asmitha, Future, Share, Trident Attempt to Raise Up to $218m in New Loans Amidst Efforts to Restructure Existing Debt
Five Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) are reportedly looking to raise between INR 800 crores (USD 175 million) and INR 1,000 crores (USD 218 million) in new loans even as they wait for word on proposed debt restructuring plans.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Invests $1m in Svasti Microfinance Private Limited of India
Grameen Capital India, a Mumbai-based, socially-oriented advisory firm, recently announced that BlueOrchard, a Switzerland-based microfinance investment company, made an equity investment of INR 45 million (USD 1.01 million) in Svasti Microfinance Private Limited (Svasti), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: PayMate, Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Rural Finance Launch Mobile Money Projects in India
PayMate, an Indian mobile payments company, and IFMR Rural Finance, an operating model of the Indian Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Trust, recently announced an agreement to launch a suite of financial inclusion projects through IFMR’s local financial institutions (LFIs) Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases “2010 Sub-Saharan Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report”
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) recently released the “2010 Sub-Saharan Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report,” which covers information on 181 microfinance institutions (MFIs) that operate in 41 countries.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance in India – A Crisis at the Bottom of the Pyramid; Published by Legatum Ventures
Published by Legatum Ventures; May 2011; 11 pages; available at http://www.legatum.org/attachments/MicrofinanceCrisis.pdf
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Directs Banks to Exercise Additional Due Diligence When Lending to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s central banking authority, has indicated that banks must perform additional due diligence when lending to microfinance institutions (MFIs) following RBI’s enactment of microfinance guidelines that capped interest rates for end-borrowers at 26 percent and interest rate margins for MFIs at 12 percent.