Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2019 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: A+, University of Nairobi (Main Campus), course: International Business, language: English, abstract: There are a number of key principles of microfinance regulations. However, empirical research indicates that some key principles such as governance, and capital adequacy should be the main focus of the microfinance regulation and supervision. CGAP (2012) developed the Consensus guideline for the supervision and regulation of the microfinance institutions (MFIs). CGAP indicated that the MFIs should have a higher capital adequacy ratios as compared to the commercial banks since the microloans issued by the MFIs have insufficient security and the borrowers main motivation to repay the loans is the expectation that they would receive more loans. The MFIs are at a higher risk of loan delinquency contagion that can lead to a significant increase in the de-capitalization. Berger agreed with the above view by stating that MFIs need to have minimum capital adequacy as a means of helping the organizations to overcome the volatilities. The researcher thus concurs that capital adequacy should be a key principle in the regulation and supervision of the MFIs due to the volatilities associated with low collateral quality in the MFI loans, and increased risk of loan repayment delinquency. However, the principle should only apply to the MFIs that offer uncollateralized loans or in the cases where the security is not adequate to effectively cover the loan.

Regulation allows microfinance institutions to evolve more fully into banks, particularly for institutions aiming to take deposits. But there are potential trade-offs. Complying with regulation and supervision can be costly. The authors examine the implications for the institutions' profitability and their outreach to small-scale borrowers and women. The tests draw on a new database that combines high-quality financial data on 245 of the world's largest microfinance institutions with newly-constructed data on their prudential supervision. Ordinary least squares regressions show that supervision is negatively associated with profitability. Controlling for the non-random assignment of supervision via treatment effects and instrumental variables regressions, the analysis finds that supervision is associated with substantially larger average loan sizes and less lending to women than in ordinary least squares regressions, although it is not significantly associated with profitability. The pattern is consistent with the notion that profit-oriented microfinance institutions absorb the cost of supervision by curtailing outreach to market segments that tend to be more costly per dollar lent. By contrast, microfinance institutions that rely on non-commercial sources of funding (for example, donations), and thus are less profit-oriented, do not adjust loan sizes or lend less to women when supervised, but their profitability is significantly reduced.

The purpose of the 'Microfinance Handbook' is to bring together in a single source guiding principles and tools that will promote sustainable microfinance and create viable institutions.

Many governments and nongovernmental organizations have adopted policies to promote the growth of microfinance institutions (MFIs). The appropriate level and form of support for MFIs are discussed in this paper on the basis of a review of key MFI characteristics. Governments are also responsible for the regulation of MFIs; here, some principles concerning the extent and coverage of MFI regulation and supervision are developed.

Microfinance contracts have proven able to secure high rates of loan repayment in the face of limited liability and information asymmetries, but high repayment rates have not translated easily into profits for most microbanks. Profitability, though, is at the heart of the promise that microfinance can deliver poverty reduction while not relying on ongoing subsidy. The authors examine why this promise remains unmet for most institutions. Using a data set with unusually high quality financial information on 124 institutions in 49 countries, they explore the patterns of profitability, loan repayment, and cost reduction. The authors find that institutional design and orientation matter substantially. Lenders that do not use group-based methods to overcome incentive problems experience weaker portfolio quality and lower profit rates when interest rates are raised substantially. For these individual-based lenders, one key to achieving profitability is investing more heavily in staff costs-a finding consistent with the economics of information but contrary to the conventional wisdom that profitability is largely a function of minimizing cost.