MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Investment Management Invests $2.4m in Equity in Indian Annapurna Microfinance

Incofin Investment Management, a Belgian company that manages microfinance investment funds, has paid INR 13 crore (USD 2.36 million) for an equity stake of undisclosed size in Annapurna Microfinance Private Limited, a for-profit microfinance company based in the Indian state of Orissa. Annapurna has nearly 125,000 clients across 18 districts in Orissa and a loan book of INR 35.78 crore (USD 6.49 million). 

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroRate Launches Web-Based Impact Investing Platform Luminis

MicroRate, a US-based microfinance rating agency, with funding from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG), a non-profit fund certification agency based in Luxembourg, has launched the full version of Luminis, an online analytical platform on microfinance funds.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Lend $20m to Chinese Banks to Support Microfinance Institutions in Rural China

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral institution based in the Philippines, will provide a loan facility of CNY 130 million (USD 20.6 million) to unspecified partner banks to “help them build their wholesale lending capacity to microcredit companies” in central and western China.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Jagaran Microfin of India Sells $3.3m in Securitized Microfinance Loans to Ratnakar Bank

Indian microfinance institution (MFI) Jagaran Microfin Private Limited reportedly has sold 50 percent of its loan portfolio for INR 16.9 crore (USD 3.32 million) to Indian commercial bank Ratnakar Bank “in a rated pool transaction to release capital and push business growth.”

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s SKS Microfinance Completes Securitization Deal Totaling $63m

SKS Microfinance Limited (SKS), a non-banking finance company (NBFC) regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), reportedly has raised INR 321 crore (USD 63 million) from four undisclosed banks “by selling securities backed by pools of loans to woman borrowers outside its home state of Andhra Pradesh.”

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fitch Improves Outlook to Positive for Grupo ACP, Owner of Mibanco of Peru and Forjadores of Mexico

Fitch, a rating agency with headquarters in London and New York, reportedly has affirmed the rating of Peruvian nonprofit holding company Grupo ACP Inversiones y Desarrollo (Grupo ACP) at BB-, indicating an elevated vulnerability to default risk.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rating Agency CRISIL Upgrades Indian Microfinance Institutions Ujjivan, Equitas, Janalakshmi

The Indian rating agency Credit Rating and Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) has upgraded the ratings of Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) Equitas Micro Finance India Private Limited and Ujjivan Financial Services from BBB- to BBB, a level that indicates a moderate level of safety [1] [2].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SKS Microfinance Completes Securitization Deals Totaling $122m

SKS Microfinance Limited (SKS), a non-banking finance company (NBFC) regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), reportedly has raised INR 354 crore (USD 72 million) from an undisclosed public-sector bank and INR 243 crore (USD 49.6 million) from an undisclosed source.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Tightens CAMELS, Other Requirements for Banks Offering Agricultural Microfinance Loans in the Philippines

The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, recently released a circular amending the minimum requirements for banks offering micro-agri loans [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ICRA Raises Rating for Arohan Financial Services Pass Through Certificates For $1.4m Securitization of Microfinance Loans

ICRA, an Indian investment information and credit rating agency, has conditionally raised the rating of a pool of pass through certificates (PTCs) for loans provided by Arohan Financial Services Private Limited, an India-based microfinance institution.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroRate Founder Damian von Stauffenberg is First to be Named to LuxFLAG Microfinance Label Eligibility Committee

The Luxembourg Fund Labelling Agency (LuxFLAG), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) and environment-related investment vehicle (EIV) certification organization, recently announced that Mr Damian von Stauffenberg, the founder of US-based microfinance rating agency MicroRate, has been named to the eligibility committee of LuxFLAG’s Microfinance Label [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroRate, LuxFlag Launch Luminis Looking to Increase Transparency of Microfinance Funds

MicroRate, a US-based microfinance rating agency, with the financial support of the Luxembourg government and the nonprofit Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG), has launched the “beta” version of Luminis, a web-based platform focused on increasing the transparency of microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs).

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Looking to Cut Out Middleman, Samrudhi Microfin Society (SMS) Launches Online Lending Portal, WeCareIndia.Org

Samrudhi Microfin Society, an Indian nonprofit microfinance institution (MFI), has launched WeCareIndia.Org, an online lending portal that allows investors to lend as little as INR 100 (USD 2) to Samrudhi borrowers.

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance and the Role of Policies and Procedures in Saturated Markets and During Periods of Fast Growth, by Adrian Gonzalez and Emmanuelle Javoy, published by, Microfinance Information Exchange, Planet Rating

Published by the Microfinance Information Exchange & Planet Rating, MicroBanking Bulletin, September 2011, 10 pages, available at: http://www.themix.org/sites/default/files/MBB-%20microfinance%20and%20the%20role%20of%20policies%20and%20procedures%20in%20saturated%20markets_1.pdf

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Botswana to Stop Facilitating Repayment of Microfinance Loans by Civil Servants

The government of Botswana has announced that it will cease acting as an intermediary between microfinance institutions (MFIs) and civil servants for the collection of microloans through the provision of “deduction-at-source” from public servants’ wages [1].

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mexican Microfinance Institution Banco Compartamos Issues $147m in Long-Term Debt

Mexican microfinance institution Banco Compartamos, S A, Institucion de Banca Multiple has issued local bank bonds (certificados bursatiles bancarios) amounting to MXN 2 billion (USD 147 million) in the local debt capital market.