Microfinance Media buzz brings a compilation of industry headlines broadcasted by other news media from across the world.

1. BBR: MFIC enters into strategic partnership with El Salvador-based Banco Agrícola

Microfinance International Corporation (MFIC) has entered into a strategic partnership with Banco Agrícola, a commercial and consumer bank in El Salvador, to jointly serve transnational families in El Salvador. The partnership will allow Salvadorians in the US to send money back home at a low cost. (Read More) News Published by Banking Business Review

2. TOI: SHGs start seaweed farming in Ganjam

For the first time, seaweed is being cultivated in the coastal villages of Ganjam by some SHG members. The project, " Green Micro Finance Project" was jointly implemented by Nabard and Orissa Rural Reconstruction Association (ORRA), a NGO, at Langaleswar in Khallikote block on Saturday. (Read More) News Published by The Times of India

3. ET: SKS Microfinance sells Rs 6.1 bn securitised loan

SKS Microfinance , India's largest and only publicly listed microfinance institution, said on Tuesday it sold securitised loans worth 5.5 billion rupees in two tranches to banks. The company also said it sold securitised loans worth 600 million rupees to a non-banking financial company earlier this month. (Read More) News Published by The Economic Times

4. AFP: Bangladesh court adjourns Yunus appeal

Bangladesh's Supreme Court adjourned a hearing Tuesday on whether Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who has fallen out with the government, was illegally removed from his pioneering "microfinance" bank. (Read More) News Published by AFP

5. BS: New Bill to cover all MFIs

The Micro Finance (Development and Regulation) Bill proposes to cover all types of microfinance institutions (MFIs). The Bill’s 2007 version covered only MFIs not regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). As a result, banks and a few categories of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) were outside its purview. (Read More) News Published by Business Standard

6. HT: Microfinance institutions face Rs 6,500-cr bad loans in AP

Microfinance institutions (MFIs), which were branded the agents of change for financial inclusion in the country, may suffer losses of around Rs 6,500 crore in Andhra Pradesh alone, Vijay Mahajan, president, Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), told HT in an interview. (Read More) News Published by Hindustan Times

7. PS: Microfinance industry needs to implement reforms, reorientation

The anti-poverty business formation known as microfinance is under attack worldwide, but efforts to get it back on track are afoot. Negative global reports on the practice of microfinance for poverty alleviation have been accumulating. (Read More) News Published by philSTAR.com

8. BW: Banks capitalizing on microinsurance

THREE BANKS have applied for licenses while others have signified interest after the central bank allowed cooperative, rural and thrift banks to sell microinsurance.“So far, there have only been three applicants but many are preparing to apply,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Gov. Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. said in a text message yesterday. (Read More) News Published by Business World

9. WSJ: Overseas Listing May Benefit E-Commerce Firms

Listing on stock exchanges outside of India may be more lucrative for local companies that have a global appeal and customers outside of this country, according to investors. Stock exchanges such as Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange in the U.S. could offer higher valuations and returns to online travel, e-commerce and mobile value-added services companies (Read More) News Published by The Wall Stree Journal

10. IRIN: BANGLADESH: New ID card policy could hit Rohingya asylum-seekers

The introduction of national ID cards may lead to further institutionalized discrimination of Burmese Rohingya asylum-seekers (unregistered refugees) living in southeastern Bangladesh, experts warn. (Read More) News Published by IRIN News