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Savings & Loans firms battle identity crisis in Ghana
Savings and loans companies in the country have appealed to the Bank of Ghana to consider creating a new identity for the industry, as the image of their business has been severely battered as a consequence of the troubles in the microfinance sector.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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Peer-to-peer lending segment needs regulation, says Reserve Bank of India deputy governor
Gandhi says RBI believes P2P lending is an important innovation in the financial services space as it furthers the agenda of financial inclusion.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance, regulations
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Letter from Mindanao, Part 2: Rural banking and the promise of cacao
In part two of his exploration of the effects of ASEAN integration on banking in the Philippines, Bruce MacDonald discusses the value of targeting hard-to-reach rural clients with microfinance, SME and agricultural loans. Of particular importance: loans for cacao production, as the country is ideally placed to help address a global cacao shortage that could reach a million metric tons by 2020.
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- Uncategorized
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Letter from Mindanao, Part 1: The impact of ASEAN integration on banking in the Philippines
On January 1st, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' 10 member countries inaugurated the ASEAN Economic Community, a common market whose goal is to forge a prominent regional bloc and bring economic well-being to its 625 million citizens. How will the integration affect banks in the region? In a recent trip to the Philippines, Bruce MacDonald sought the perspectives of government and central bank officials and private bankers.
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- Uncategorized
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Serve Rural Areas or Lose License, Central Bank of Nepal Governor Tells Microfinance Institutions
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Chiranjibi Nepal has warned that the central bank may scrap the license of microfinance institutions who fail to reach rural areas of the country.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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UPDATED Weekly Roundup: Haiti’s Peanut Pushback, Moms Vs. Markets and Should Google’s Payday Ban Apply to Microfinance?
This week in the roundup we consider the pushback of Haitian farmers and NGOs against the U.S. government's mass peanut donation, how marketers might be undermining mothers who breastfeed, and whether Google's ban on ads from payday lenders could justifiably be applied to microfinance.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care
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Google to Ban Payday Loan Advertisements
Google announced Wednesday that it will ban all payday loan ads from its site, bowing to concerns by advocates who say the lending practice exploits the poor and vulnerable by offering them immediate cash that must be paid back under sky-high interest rates.
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- lending
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Online Lenders Already in Turmoil Facing U.S. Call for Rules
Marketplace lenders need to be more transparent about their business practices and some should be subject to additional oversight from U.S. regulators, according to a Treasury Department study released as the industry grapples with market turmoil and a scandal involving one of its leading firms.
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- lending, regulations