Symbiotics NewsWatch #214, 12 June 2012

Jun. 11	Kyrgyzstan: Could Microfinance Bubble Burst? Kyrgyzstan’s poor and largely rural population, along with its lax regulatory environment, enabled a boom in small loans in recent years. A microfinance institution (MFI) can be founded with only 100,000 Kyrgyz soms ($2,175) in capital, and staff need no expertise in microfinance, let alone banking.With so little data and a dearth of transparency, a crisis somewhat analogous to the US subprime mortgage meltdown of 2008 -- where the riskiest loans at the fringes of the market ended up sinking the entire economy -- is not difficult to picture. Source: Eurasia Net
Jun. 10	Frontier Investment Unveils Rs. 400cr Fund Frontier Investments Group, which is an investment arm of global microfinance and investment firm Accion International, is all set to launch its first fund of about Rs. 400cr ($74 million) mainly focused on emerging economies but targeting India as its priority market. Source: NBM Media
Jun. 07	New Research Shows $650 Billion Potential for Sustainable and Impact Investing Calvert Foundation launches "Gateways to Impact" report that indicates 72% of financial advisors express interest in offering impact investing opportunity to clients. Source: PR Web
Jun. 06	SEEP Brings out Report on Perspectives of MFA Leaders  The Small Enterprise Education and Promotion Network (SEEP) has come out with the ‘Market Outlook 2012: Perspectives on Microfinance Association Leaders’ as a platform for microfinance association leaders to share their perceptions of the most important priorities, threats, and risks for the microfinance sector in various countries worldwide. Source: Microfinance Focus
Jun. 06	Mexico: IFC Launches First Financial Service for Suppliers to Shops Comercial Mexicana in Order to Broaden Financing to PYMES International Finance Corporation (IFC), an institution the World Bank Group that supports the private sector, launched its first financial service providers with self-service and supermarket chain Comercial Shops Mexicana (TCM). This service will allow TCM providers access to $ 100 million. Source: IFC
Jun. 06	The Microinsurance Revolution For the poor, insurance is a safety net, and a springboard for the future. Six years ago David Patient felt his immune system slipping. He had been H.I.V.-positive for a long time, but now he made two decisions: He started on antiretroviral medicines to protect himself, and he began trying to buy life insurance to provide for his partner. Source: The New York Times