Finance Matters

Microfinance is one of the few sectors to have escaped the impact of the financial slowdown, according to a new report published this week.
Unitus-Hewitt Microfinance Compensation & Benefits Survey found employee compensation in India-based microfinance institutions (MFIs) has held steady through the recession.
Looking at employee compensation is a considered a reliable measure of much a [...]

Investors looking to profit from microfinance are no better than loan sharks, a pioneer of the industry has claimed.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus said he is concerned that investment funds are viewing microfinance as a way to make a profit.
“Poor people should not be presented as an opportunity to make money,” said the Bangladeshi economist.
“We started [...]

Companies should not waste shareholders’ money on philanthropy, the chairman of Nestle claimed this week.
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of the Switzerland-based food giant, said corporate philanthropy is a “misuse” of shareholder money, Bloomberg reports.
“I’m personally very much against corporate philanthropy,” Brabeck said in a television interview.
“You shouldn’t do good with money which doesn’t belong to you.”
Society’s [...]