Workshop on Microfinance and Rural Development
At a recent workshop on “Microfinance and Rural Development” held at Ramjas College, Delhi, Nitin Chaudhary from IFMR Rural Finance had the opportunity to chair one of the sessions that was attended by students of Ramjas College and St. Stephen’s College.
Exchanging wealth management notes with Professor Merton
Financial literacy is like asking a customer who is being wheeled into a surgery “Do you want 14 sutures or 17?” With this comment, we discovered common ground with Prof. Robert Merton, Nobel Prize winning Economist!
Blue Print for Commercial Banks to Deepen Financial Access
IFMR Finance Foundation has come out with a comprehensive manual with a detailed blueprint for commercial banks to deepen financial access in a viable manner using the Business Correspondents (BC) and Business Facilitators (BF).
Capital at the ACCESS ‘Investor Readiness Workshop’
On the 8th and 9th of February 2010, Access Microfinance Alliance (AmFA), one of the largest small MFI networks in India, organized ‘ACCESS INVEST’, an investor readiness workshop for its members.
MFI Activity and Human Resource
The success of an organization greatly depends on its Human Resource (HR), where HR plays a vital role in maintaining and enhancing its human capital.
Deepening Financial Access in India – A Blue Print for Commercial Banks
While endeavouring to deepen financial access in India, the enormity of the problem, that is, the vast number of financially excluded people to be reached, has been emphasised time and again.
Microfinance Summit
Last week a group of microfinance practitioners and investors gathered in New York City at the 2nd Microfinance Summit to discuss recent developments within the microfinance industry, as well as opportunities in providing healthcare, clean water, and renewable energy to low-income populations.
Thoughts from the CMF-CAB Conference
Last week I attended a conference titled “Microfinance: Translating Research into Practice”, hosted by the Centre for Microfinance in partnership with the College of Agricultural Banking (CAB) in Pune.
“Financial Inclusion is not a choice, but an absolute necessity”
The South Asian Economics Students Meet (SAESM) that concluded recently in Dhaka had Kshama Fernandes from IFMR Capital interacting with the students over a dinner talk on “Access to Finance for All”
Ratings upgrade highlights microfinance as a promising new asset class for investors
In March 2009, IFMR Capital (presently known as Northern Arc Capital) and Equitas Micro Finance concluded the first securitisation of micro-loans in India. Following that landmark transaction, on October 27th 2009 the associated PTCs (pass-through-certificates or securities) received a ratings upgrade from CRISIL. The senior tranche of PTCs was upgraded from AA (so) to AAA (so) — CRISIL’s highest long term safety rating. The junior tranche was upgraded from BBB (so) to A (so).
