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July 20, 2006 |
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SKS Wins CGAP Financial Transparency Award for the second year in
a row
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Hyderabad, India � SKS
Microfinance has earned merit recognition in the CGAP Financial
Transparency Award Competition for its demonstrated commitment to
financial transparency. At a joint CGAP-SKS press conference held in
Hyderabad today, Dr. Vikram Akula, Founder and CEO of SKS, received
the Transparency Award plaque from Dr. Syed Hashemi, a senior CGAP
microfinance specialist along with 5 borrowers from the villages of
Rajampeta and Kothalapoor.
In its second year, the CGAP Financial Transparency Award
Competition drew 175 applications from 57 countries worldwide. |
SKS earned merit recognition demonstrating a �high level of
compliance with international financial reporting standards.�
�The institutions which participated in this year�s competition are
doing more than improving the world of microfinance; they are
helping make microfinance institutions� performance better
understood by the general public, a key step to building more
inclusive financial systems for the poor,� said Elizabeth
Littlefield, CGAP CEO.
Founded in 1998, SKS Microfinance is receiving the Merit Award for
the second year in a row, the only microfinance institution in India
to be duly recognized.
The award honors SKS for its compliance with international
disclosure guidelines, including industry specific CGAP disclosure
guidelines and the widely accepted IFRS, or International Financial
Reporting Standards. Today, SKS is one of the fastest growing
microfinance organizations in the world. SKS has provided over Rs.
317 crores in loans across 104 branches to nearly 260,000 poor women
in five states across India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa. In the last year alone, SKS grew by
nearly 300 percent, and has a portfolio outstanding of 110 crores.
SKS has plans to replicate this growth rate by expanding to six
northern states (Bihar, UP, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and
Chhattisgarh) within the coming year.
Founder and CEO of SKS Microfinance, Vikram Akula, remarked, �we are
thrilled to receive this award. This recognition affirms our
long-standing emphasis on institutional transparency.
Furthermore, it demonstrates our view that financial transparency is
core to our mission of empowering the poor through the provision of
financial services.�
�SKS is setting a high standard for other Indian Microfinance
institutions with its commitment to financial transparency, said Mr.
C.V.Rao DGM of SIDBI Hyderabad. �We are proud to be partners with an
industry leader.�
Ultimately, CGAP believe that all microfinance institutions should
be able to receive the Financial Transparency Award.
�CGAP is proud to sponsor the award and invites everyone in the
microfinance industry and beyond to learn what it says about the
institutions that have earned it� said Dr. Hashemi. But transparency
is much broader than financial reporting: it�s also about corporate
governance, effective management and full disclosure to clients.�
In some markets, microfinance institutions are stronger and more
profitable than leading banks. The Microfinance Information
Exchange�a web-based portal providing financial information on
microfinance institutions �now reports on 700 such institutions,
several of which boast �5-diamond� ratings, including SKS.
To learn more about the CGAP Financial Transparency Award, visit
www.cgap.org |
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