AKDN
http://www.akdn.org/news/2007march26.html
Press Release For Immediate Release
Geneva, 15 March 2007
Microfinance banks of the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) have received top financial transparency awards from the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).
The First MicroFinanceBank of Pakistan and the First MicroFinanceBank of Afghanistan, both AKAM institutions, have received the top award for achieving the highest standards of financial disclosure. The Award criteria draw from the disclosure requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards as well as industry-specific CGAP disclosure guidelines.
In addition, the First MicroFinanceBank of Tajikistan was one of 83 institutions which received recognition of “merit”, indicating their compliance with competition criteria. Two-hundred and thirty microfinance institutions in 62 countries entered the competition this year, the highest number to date. The full results of the 2006 competition can be found on the CGAP website at www.cgap.org
The First MicroFinanceBank of Pakistan also won the top award in 2005.
“In an era when international lending institutions, government donors and development organizations have called for better governance and improved transparency, these awards set high standards for microfinance banks,” said Jacques Toureille, General Manager of the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance. “It speaks volumes that our banks in Pakistan and Afghanistan have won the top awards and that the bank in Tajikistan is well on its way to achieving the same status.”
After receiving banking licence #001 in the autumn of 2003, the First MicroFinanceBank of Afghanistan has rapidly expanded its activities in the country. Currently, First MicroFinanceBank of Afghanistan has eight branches: three in Kabul, one in Pul-e-Khumri, one in Mazar-e-Sharif, one in Herat, one in Kunduz and one in Jalalabad.
The First MicroFinanceBank of Pakistan started operations in March 2002 as the first microfinance bank licensed under the regulatory framework of the Microfinance Institutions Ordinance 2001. Since then, the Bank has gradually expanded its reach to a network of over 43 branches/units in both rural and urban areas of the country.
The First MicroFinanceBank of Tajikistan was established in 2003. In addition to its Head Office in Dushanbe, the bank currently has branches in Khorog, Garm, Khojand and in the Khatlon district.
All First MicroFinanceBanks provide credit and saving products as well as domestic and international payment services. In addition, the Afghan and Tajik Banks finance Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and provide a variety of commercial services, including quality fund management services, and SWIFT transfers, among others.
The Banks’ central objective is the fight against poverty and economic exclusion. Their main goals are sustainability, broad geographical and service outreach and maximal impact.