MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) Approves $15m Loan for Microfinance Institutions in Peru

The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), a multilateral financial institution that is a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, recently approved funding of up to USD 15 million for a program in Peru that is intended to expand lending to individuals for home purchases and remodeling and business lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments Makes Loans Totaling $12.5m to Belarusian Bank for Small Business (BBSB) of Belarus, Khan Bank of Mongolia, XacBank of Mongolia

responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently invested USD 12.5 million across three financial institutions based in Belarus and Mongolia.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) of India to Investigate Claims of Improper Handling of Mutual Benefit Trusts (MBTs) by SKS Microfinance, SHARE Microfin and Spandana Sphoorty

The Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a trade association of Indian microfinance lenders, has set up a committee to investigate claims that SKS Microfinance, a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI); SHARE Microfin, a regulated non-banking finance company (NBFC); and Spandana Sphoorty, another for-profit MFI, took advantage of clients through the use of mutual benefit trusts (MBTs) to converting the institutions into for-profit entities.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Participants at World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011 in Davos, Switzerland, Discuss Non-Payment in Andhra Pradesh, Consumer Protection, Microfinance Regulation

Participants of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011, which was held in Davos, Switzerland, from January 26 to January 30, discussed the future of financial services for poor people in a session called “Financial Inclusion: Beyond Microfinance.”

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency Launches Pricing Data Report on India’s Microfinance Industry

MFTransparency, a US-based nongovernmental organization that aims to provide information on credit products and pricing in a clear and uniform fashion, recently released the pricing data report of its Transparent Pricing Initiative in India.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Social Investments of Switzerland Makes Loans Totaling $13m to Banco Continental of Paraguay, Financiera Confianza of Peru

responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently reported to MicroCapital that it invested the equivalent of USD 13 million in two microfinance institutions (MFIs) in South America.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Launches Micro-, Small & Medium-Sized Enterprise Bonds Electronic Platform, Closes Two Deals for Mutual Cartago de Ahorro y Prestamo (MUCAP) and Microfinance Institution (MFI) Lanka ORIX MicroCredit (LOMC)

Symbiotics, a microfinance investment services company based in Switzerland, launched an electronic bond issuance platform on December 16th aimed at serving micro-, small & medium-sized enterprises and closed deals for Mutual Cartago de Ahorro y Prestamo (MUCAP), a savings and loan institution based in Costa Rica, and Sri Lankan microfinance institution (MFI) Lanka ORIX MicroCredit (LOMC), a joint venture started by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Sri Lankan government and the Orient Leasing Company.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Loans $2.5m to Microfinance Institutions Prasac, Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL) of Cambodia

BlueOrchard Finance SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based commercial microfinance intermediary BlueOrchard, recently reported to MicroCapital the following two loans it made to Cambodian microfinance institutions (MFIs):

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG) Finds Microfinance Operations of Major Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) Have Difficulty in Reaching Very Poor People

The Evaluation Cooperation Group (ECG), a network of evaluators of multilateral development banks (MDBs), has published a report that finds that the microfinance operations of MDBs have difficulty in reaching very poor borrowers.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Investment Manager BlueOrchard Invests $5.5m in Fondo de Desarrollo Local (FDL) of Nicaragua, First Allied Savings and Loans Limited (FASL) of Ghana and AB Microfinance Bank of Nigeria

BlueOrchard Finance SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based commercial microfinance intermediary BlueOrchard, reported to MicroCapital the details of three debt investments made to microfinance institution (MFI) Nitlapan’s Credit Program Fondo de Desarrollo Local (FDL) of Nicaragua (MFI), First Allied Savings and Loans Limited (FASL), an MFI in Ghana, and the commercial AB Microfinance Bank of Nigeria.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advans SA Set to Open Microfinance Bank (MFB) Advans Bank Tanzania in December 2010

Advans SA, a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) registered in Luxembourg that mobilizes funds for microfinance institutions (MFIs), has announced that it has scheduled the opening of the first branch of its sixth microfinance bank (MFB), Advans Bank Tanzania, in Dar es Salaam in December of this year.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Investment Manager BlueOrchard Finance Invests $7m in Inecobank of Armenia, Credo of Georgia and Pag-Asa

BlueOrchard Finance SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based commercial microfinance intermediary BlueOrchard, recently reported to MicroCapital the details of three debt investments made during the month of September 2010 to financial institutions Inecobank of Armenia, Limited Liability Company (LLC) Microfiance Organization (MFO) Credo of Georgia and Pag-Asa of the Philippines.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: United Kingdom’s CDC Group Invests $10m in Lok Capital II, Private Equity Fund Focused on Microfinance in India

CDC Group, the UK’s government-owned development finance institution, recently invested USD 10 million in Lok Capital II, a private equity fund managed by Lok Capital, partner organization of the non profit Lok Foundation based in New York City, USA.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Andhra Pradesh Offer Debt Restructuring

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Andhra Pradesh, India, are offering many of their estimated 6.7 million borrowers the option of restructuring their outstanding loans in an effort to defuse recent popular and political hostility towards microfinance in the area.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bandhan Financial Services of India to Provide Wholesale Loans to Smaller Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)

Bandhan Financial Services, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kolkata, India, recently announced that it is considering providing credit to smaller MFIs, in addition to lending directly to low-income groups.