EVENTS 

15th Annual Boulder MFT in English & French: The training in English will be offered for the 15th consecutive year, and for the 4th consecutive year, in French. (Turin, Italy - July 20 to August 7, 2009)

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

Financial Times announces winners of Sustainable Banking Awards: This year the nominees were selected from among 165 entries from 117 institutions across 42 countries.

Social Performance Reporting Award: Entries are now open for this new Award, which recognizes transparency in social performance reporting. The deadline for submissions is Sept 15, 2009.

Microfinance Gateway Relaunches to Offer New, Interactive Features: The most comprehensive online resource for the global microfinance community now offers interactive features, updated information on Hot Topics in microfinance, and a fresh look and feel.

LATEST PUBLICATIONS

Asset and Liability Management for Deposit-Taking Microfinance Institutions: As MFIs diversify their funding sources, sound asset and liability management (ALM) is critical to help MFIs assess and manage financial risk.

Stability of Small Balance Deposits: Small balance demand deposits from poor clients are viewed as a particularly volatile class of funding. This is one reason some MFIs are concerned about using deposits to fund their lending operations.

Are Deposits a Stable Source of Funding for Microfinance Institutions?: New research finds that under normal circumstances, aggregate balances for low-income accounts move gradually, and they are not prone to abrupt month-by-month swings.

The Role of Mobile Operators in Expanding Access to Finance: The fact that mobile phones can be used as transactional devices doesn’t necessarily mean that the mobile operator needs to “own” the financial services.