Foreign investors may now own up to 60 percent equity into Philippine rural bank Philippine President Aquino has signed into law RA 10574 "An Act Allowing the Infusion of Foreign Equity in the Capital of Rural Banks". The law amends the Rural Bank Act of 1992 and now allows foreign individuals and entities to acquire equity of up to 60 percent in rural banks. The law also states that ...

Upcoming missions and events

In June MicroFinanza Rating team will be in the following countries: Panama, Mexico, Morocco, Bolivia, Italy, Germany, Niger, Ecuador. Moreover, we will be participating to the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) Annual Meeting, held in Panama, 5-8 June. The Conference will focus on the implementation of the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management.

Newly issued ratings

Download our latest reports from the Reports section, after subscribing to our services.

19th Edition of the Boulder Microfinance Training Programme MicroFinanza Rating Executive Director, Aldo Moauro, will be holding a course titled "Financial, Social, and Environmental Rating" as part of the Boulder Microfinance Training (MFT) Program, which takes place in Turin, Italy, from July 15th - August 2nd. The Training will offer a special focus on providing tools that will strengthen financial skills and build risk analysis proficiency in order to prepare professional decision-makers to confront upcoming challenges of the microfinance sector. Click here to register NOW.

16th MFC Annual Conference As guest speaker MicroFinanza Rating will be participating in the panel titled "Client Protection Certification: How does it Work?" as part of the MFC Annual Conference in Montenegro from 28th to 30th of May 2013. The workshop will present MFI experience of the assessment and certification process, and explore practical solutions to key gaps in transparency and over-indebtedness.

Treat employees responsibly in the Philippines MicroFinanza Rating is pleased to share an independent analysis of the implementation of the USSPM # 5 in the Philippines. Results from a sample of social ratings of MFIs in the Philippines show an intermediate implementation of the section number 5 of the Universal Standard for Social Performance Management (USSPM), dedicated to the responsible treatment of the employees. Read more

Social Rating with Client Protection Certification

MicroFinanza Rating is pleased to announce that Social Rating gives an indicator of the efforts required to achieve the Certification starting from April 2013. Read more or contact Lucia Spaggiari, Social Rating director.

Annual Report on the Microfinance Sector in Kenya MicroFinanza Rating is proud to present the "2012 Annual Report on the Microfinance Sector in Kenya". This publication - made in collaboration with AMFI - is the first of its kind as it comprises a representative section of the Kenyan microfinance industry developments and trends over 2009-2011, displaying both aggregate quantitative and qualitative information, as well as a directory of individual microfinance institutions operating in the country. Download here the publication.

Social Rating with Universal Standards of SPM MicroFinanza Rating is pleased to announce that Social Rating measures the compliance to the USSPM from March 2013. Social Rating integrates the Universal Standards of Social Performance Management (USSPM) and provides an external validation of the MFI compliance to the USSPM. Read more or contact Lucia Spaggiari, Social Rating director.

MicroFinanza Rating: licensed Client Protection Certifier MicroFinanza Rating is pleased to announce that it received the licence from the SMART campaign to conduct Client Protection Certifications. The Certification program of the SMART campaign was launched in January 2013, with MicroFinanza Rating recognized as a licensed certifier. MicroFinanza Rating offers to financial insitutions with sound client protection practices the opportunity to achieve the Client Protection Certification - a public demonstration of committment to clients. The Certification can be...

Global Microfinance Ratings Comparability MicroFinanza Rating, in collaboration with the other specialized microfinance ratings agencies, contributed to develop a common financial rating product name and specialized microfinance ratings comparability table. Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) initiated and funded the collaboration to address specialized microfinance rating industry needs. Download the publication.

Rating of Cooperative Credit Banks in Italy MicroFinanza Rating has successfully completed the Assessment of the Cooperative Bank Mediocrati within the Joint Action to Support Microfinance Institutions in Europe (JASMINE) financed by the EU and managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF). Mediocrati is the first Italian Bank accessing a senior loan (EUR 3m in Q4 2012) issued within the European Progress Microfinance Facility (established in 2010 with EUR 200m of funding from EC and EIF).