You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Risk’ tag.
> Posted by Deborah Drake, Vice President and Program Manager, Investing in Inclusive Finance, CFI
The Investing in Inclusive Finance program at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion explores the intersection of investment and financial inclusion. Across areas including risk, governance, stakeholder alignment, and fund management, this blog series will highlight what’s being done to help the industry better utilize private capital to develop commercially sustainable financial institutions.
As the head of the CFI’s Investing in Inclusive Finance program area, I spend a lot of my time focusing on how to create behavioral change at the board level – with the goal of improving the governance of microfinance institutions. I recently attended a University of Rochester Faculty Perspective Webinar given by Edward Deci called “Self-Determined: What Motivates You?” with the professional objective of better understanding what motivates board members and how that impacts behavioral change. Yet, throughout the webinar, I found myself drawing many parallels to my other job: mother to three sons.
> Posted by Jeffrey Riecke, Communications Assistant, CFI
There are endless ways to measure the successes of a given year. Number of clients reached. Total new stakeholder endorsement. Amount of capital invested… Though when assessing almost anything, it’s important to think holistically and not be biased by the numbers. That said, I think I can speak for most of the Center in saying that we are excited to share that several CFI-affiliated publications were among the Microfinance Gateway’s Most Popular Publications of 2012. No small feat considering 546 new resources were added to the Gateway this past year. Here’s a brief listing of the CFI pubs that made this top cut:
Over-Indebtedness in Microfinance: An Empirical Analysis of Related Factors on the Borrower Level
This paper by Jessica Schicks analyses the over-indebtedness of microborrowers in Ghana, examining its relationship with poverty, adverse shocks, loan returns, and financial literacy. In defining over-indebtedness, the paper adopts a client perspective, taking into account clients’ repayment struggles and the sacrifices they make to fulfill payment obligations. Some of the paper’s findings are the following: Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Stephen Thomas, Director of Risk Management, Credit Suisse
Morocco has one of the most extensive and vibrant microfinance sectors in the Middle East/North Africa region, with roughly 800,000 clients and $60 million in outstanding loans. The country’s microfinance industry hasn’t always undergone steady growth. After years of early, strong growth in a relatively lightly regulated environment, Morocco’s microfinance industry underwent a period of crisis beginning around 2006. During this time default rates rose to worrisome levels and the financial soundness of a number of microfinance institutions became imperiled.
The country’s government moved swiftly, both over this period of time, and continuing to the present. It enacted a number of laws designed to improve industry regulation. In 2006, it formalized the country’s Central Bank’s regulatory authority over the industry through Law No. 34-03. The Bank then took a series of steps to effectively enforce the government’s laws and expand its oversight of the lending activities. These steps included enacting additional legislation, conducting on-site inspections, and, when necessary, intervening. In September 2009, additional regulatory requirements were issued through the Directive on the Governance of Microfinance Associations. The Directive provided further clarification of managerial obligations with regard to governance, internal controls, external audit, the management of credit, liquidity and operations risks, and transparency. Other government-led measures during these years following the 2006 crisis include enhancements to regulations regarding risk management practices and contract transparency, and formally defining industry client protection principles. Adopted in 2010, these client protection principles were outlined in the Microfinance Code of Ethics and incorporate the concepts that are enumerated in the Smart Campaign’s Client Protection Principles.
Facebook
Twitter
Recent Comments