Symbiotics NewsWatch #183, 01 November 2011

Nov. 01	India: Responsible Indian Microfinance Still a Pipedream Year After Crisis The self-help group & bank- linkage model has been touted as the panacea for solving the current crisis facing Indian microfinance. But this linkage model faces a number of issues that need urgent attention. Source: Moneylife
Oct. 31	Sudan Prepares for Robust Microfinance Industry  The Cabinet of the Republic of Sudan, approved recommendations presented in a report by Dr. Mohamed Khair Al-Zubair, Governor of the Central Bank of Sudan. Some of these recommendations include the issue of guarantees such as the salary, the retirement pension and the personal guarantee as well as granting preferential advantage to microfinance projects. Source: Microfinance Focus
Oct. 31	Nepal: Microcredit Firms Ask for Separate Credit Info Bureau  Microfinance institutions have identified the need to establish a separate credit information bureau after borrowers started getting credit from multiple institutions raising chances of increasing the level of bad loans in the sector with a debt recovery history of almost 100 percent. Source: Republica
Oct. 30	The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN): An Interview with CEO Luther Ragin, Jr. The GIIN was formally launched at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative with J.P. Morgan, the Rockefeller Foundation, and USAID, our founding funders. From the start, the GIIN has been focused on increasing the scale and effectiveness of the impact investing industry. Source: Forbes
Oct. 26	Mexico: Compartamos May Seek More Acquisitions in 2012, CEO Alvarez Says Compartamos SAB Chief Executive Officer Fernando Alvarez Toca said the Mexican microfinance company won’t rule out buying more businesses in 2012. Source: Bloomberg
Oct. 26	China: Microcredit Providing a Lifeline Chinese farmers finding it hard to obtain bank loans are turning to micro-credit organizations to help them launch their own businesses, amid the accelerated expansion of the non-governmental financial system. Source: China Daily