Chatham Financial, a US-based interest-rate and currency risk advisory company, plans to merge operations with its subsidiary, Cygma Corporation.
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BBVA Microfinance Affiliate Corporacion para las Microfinanzas Puerto Rico (PR) Reaches $2m in Entrepreneurial loans
In its first year of commercial operation, which ended September 2011, Corporacion para las Microfinanzas Puerto Rico (PR), a microfinance institution created and owned by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation, granted USD 2.1 million to entrepreneurs on the island of Puerto Rico [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Federación de Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito (FENACOAC), World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) Support Microfinance in Guatemala, Mexico with $4m Rural Technology Cooperative Program
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a US-based trade association for credit unions in 51 countries, and Federación de Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito (FENACOAC), an association of credit unions and cooperatives in Guatemala, is using technology to assist rural farmers in Guatamala and Mexico in achieving financial stability.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure Ghana to Launch Credit Health Insurance for Microfinance Clients
The Ghanaian branch of MicroEnsure, a UK-based subsidiary of nonprofit Opportunity International that serves as a microinsurance intermediary, has announced plans to offer credit health insurance to microfinance clients in Ghana.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Transactions International of Zambia Receives $3.2m Equity Investment from Omidyar Network, ACCION
Omidyar Network, a US-based social investment firm, and ACCION International, a US-based nonprofit that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs), have invested USD 3.2 million in equity in Mobile Transactions International, a Zambia-based mobile financial services company, to expand financial access to poor and underserved populations.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation Loans $15m to National Cooperative of Educators in Costa Rica (Coopenae) for Enterprise Microfinance
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank Group member that aims to support private–sector development, has announced that it will assist the National Cooperative of Educators (Coopenae), a Costa Rican financial services company, to increase access to financial services for micro- and small enterprises.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triple Jump Disburses Loan From Oxfam Novib Fund to Microfinance Institution Finadev Benin
Triple Jump Fund Management (Triple Jump), a Dutch investor in microfinance, recently issued its first loan to Finadev Benin SA, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Benin.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangladeshi Prime Minister Proposes Microfinance Pioneer Muhammad Yunus as Next World Bank President
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reportedly recommended the appointment of Dr Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, as the next president of the World Bank, an institution that provides loans to developing countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tanzania to Introduce Microfinance Act, Establish Credit Bureau, Offer Financial Education
The Tanzanian government has begun drafting a Microfinance Act that will provide a legal, regulatory and supervisory framework for microfinance operations, according to a statement attributed to Harry Ndambala, manager of the microfinance supervision department of the Bank of Tanzania, the central bank of the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Au Financiers to Establish Affordable Housing Finance Company in India
Au Financiers, a non-banking financial company in Rajasthan, India, reportedly will establish Au Housing Finance Private Limited (AHFPL), an Indian housing company, to “cater to the un-served and under-served markets, predominantly in the low income state of Rajasthan.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Women’s Cooperative Vimo SEWA to Become Microinsurance Agent for L&T Insurance
Vimo SEWA, a woman’s insurance cooperative in India promoted by the nongovernmental organization Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), has partnered with L&T Insurance, an Indian insurance company, to become L&T’s first microinsurance agent.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BNP Paribas China Enters Microfinance With $2.3m Loan to MicroCred Nanchong
BNP Paribas China, a branch of the France-based financial services provider BNP Paribas, has disbursed a loan in local currency equivalent to USD 2.3 million to Chinese microfinance institution (MFI) MicroCred Nanchong, a member of the France-based MicroCred.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA), Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), World Bank Launch Envia Centro America to Promote Transparency in Remittance Activity
The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA in Spanish), a Mexico-based association of Latin American central banks; the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank Group; and the World Bank recently launched Envía Centro America, a free online tool that allows users to compare the cost and speed of sending remittances from the United States to seven Latin American countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic, as well as from Costa Rica to Nicaragua.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Lok Capital Closes Venture Fund, Lok II, at $65m
Lok Capital LLC, an India-based microfinance investment firm, has closed its second venture capital fund, Lok II, at USD 65 million.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2011
By the Economist Intelligence Unit, funded by The Multilateral Investment Fund, Corporación Andina de Fomento and the International Finance Corporation, October 2011, 72 pages, available at: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=36453519.
This paper examines the microfinance business environments in 55 countries, comparing them across three categories: supporting institutional framework, political stability, and regulatory framework and practices. It is the fifth annual paper in the series, covering the 12-month period through June 2011. The research comprises data collected in 21 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, 11 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, seven of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, seven of East Asia, five of South Asia and four of the Middle East and North Africa.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DemirBank of Azerbaijan to Borrow $8m from Microfinance Enhancement Facility, Co-Managed by responsAbility
DemirBank, an Azerbaijan-based commercial bank that lends to small and medium-sized enterprises, has signed an agreement with the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF), a microfinance investment vehicle created by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and German development bank KfW Entwicklungsbank, to receive USD 8 million in loans over a three-year period.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Credit Bureau Cambodia Launched to Facilitate Information Sharing Among Banks, Microfinance Institutions
The Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC) and the Cambodian Microfinance Association (CMA), two trade associations with a combined membership of 64 financial institutions, have formed a joint venture with New Zealand-based credit bureau developer Veda Advantage to launch the Credit Bureau (Cambodia) Company Limited (CBC), which will maintain a database of credit information intended to help banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) in making “accurate loan decisions based on borrower’s positive and negative credit history” [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Liberia Launches $2.7m Loan Facility For Microfinance Institutions, Backed By United Nations Development Program
As part of its Liberian Inclusive Financial Sector (LIFS) Project, which is supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has launched a LRD 200 million (USD 2.7 million) “Loan Extension Assistance Facility” (LEAF) economic stimulus initiative which targets Liberian microfinance institutions [1].