Search Results for: Microfinance Institutions Bill India

Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan Ltd, a subsidiary of Standard Chartered PLC, has closed its first microfinance deal, a two-year term loan to Kashf Foundation worth PKR 350 million (USD 4.2 million).

Bandhan Financial Services Private Limited, a Indian microfinance institution reports that it has completed its first major equity raise with a INR 500,000,000 (USD 10.7 million) investment from the government-backed Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

Financial Information Networks and Operation (FINO), an Indian company that provides technological products to microfinance institutions (MFIs), banks, and insurance companies, has received a INR 70 crore infusion, the equivalent of over USD 15 million, in private equity funding from HSBC Private Equity, the equity investment arm of the Hong Kong bank; Intel Capital, the investment arm of the American semiconductor producer; and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank [1,2,3,4,5]. Details of how much was invested by each organization were not made available. Rishi Gupta, Chief Financial Officer of FINO, has stated the capital will be used to help “meet the demand” for various products including servers and biometric cards that store transaction records [1]. The transaction was advised by Avendus Capital, an investment bank based in India [1,6]. In an apparently separate transaction, HSBC and Intel have purchased the stake of FINO formerly owned by Legatum, an investment group based in Dubai [1,7]. Legatum originally bought this stake in 2007 for USD 4.5 million, as reported by MicroCapital [1,8]. According to Mr. Gupta, HSBC and Intel purchased the stake for a “far higher,” though unspecified, price [1]. The percentage stake that HSBC and Intel now have is also unspecified.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, is set to provide a trade financing line of USD 51 million to Kotak Mahindra Bank, an Indian commercial bank, to lend to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) involved in international trade [1,2,3]. The line is part of the IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program, a USD 3 billion program intended to allow banks to “deliver trade financing by providing risk mitigation in new or challenging markets where trade lines may be constrained” [4]. Kotak Mahindra is the first Indian bank to be supported under this program [1]. MicroCapital has reported on the participation of other banks in this program, including Bank Respublika of Azerbaijan [5]. Dipak Gupta, the Executive Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, has stated the importance of the line in allowing the bank to provide “a wider base of short-term foreign-currency trade finance products” [1].

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has agreed to provide equity of USD 1.15 million to Hand in Hand’s microfinance arm, Belstar Investment and Finance Limited. Hand in Hand is an NGO that is involved in efforts such as reducing child labor and malnutrition and improving solid waste management. The financing is intended to enable Belstar to obtain support from other investors and IFC Advisory Services will help Belstar improve risk management, staff training and product range.