The database contains a standardized analysis of the financial, legal and regulatory situation for microfinance in 50 different countries, compiled by the IRIS Center at the University of Maryland (see "A Note About Sources" to find out how this was done and what sources were consulted.) There are numerous ways to search for information, as well as a wealth of information available. Use this section to learn more about this tool, as well as some tips and shortcuts to get the most out of the database or gain a better understanding of the breadth of the information available
Tips & Shortcuts
Performing Multiple Comparisons
The comparative database is a powerful tool, allowing you to compare data across multiple countries and/or multiple topics and institution types simultaneously. Hold down the CTRL-key while selecting multiple items from the topics, countries, and/or institution type lists. Click on the “submit” button directly below the lists to see the results in a matrix format on-screen.
When you get the results you’ve requested, you have three options:
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You can do another search by hitting the “clear selections” button. You will be asked to confirm if you really want to clear the selections. Click “OK.” This will clear all the parameters you have set in the topic, country and institution type lists, as well as the results of your search.
- You can export the data to Microsoft® Excel. When you click the “export to excel” button, in Internet Explorer you will be prompted to open or save the file. If you open the file, it will be displayed in Excel in the context of the browser window. If you choose to save it at this point, go to the “File” menu and select “Save As…” You will be given an opportunity to select where you want to save the file, name the file and decide in what format you’d like the file saved. The default file type is web page; however, you can change the type to Excel workbook. Once you open the information in Excel, you can then sort or filter the information as suits your needs.
- You can view the information in a printable format by clicking the “view printable page” button. When you click this button, the browser page will refresh, displaying a page without the extraneous navigation, images, and topic, country, institution type lists. If you choose to print the page, for best results, go to the “File” menu, select “Page setup” and change the orientation to “Landscape,” click “OK.” You can now print by holding the CTRL-P keys or going to the “File” menu and select “Print.” For more legible print-outs, you may want to use the “Print Preview” option to adjust number of pages, zoom and font size amongst other options.
The default setting is “All Topics,” “All Countries,” and “All Institution Types.” Because of the volume of information available in the database, it will take a little while for the data to be displayed. The page returned will be quite long and require a left-right scroll. You will be offered an opportunity to narrow the results down by topic.
Any links that are available have been provided and will open in a new browser window. These links will be active in both the printable and Excel versions.
About Empty Data Fields and Blank Search Results
Every effort has been made to provide complete and standardized information across all topics, countries and institution types. However, some data are simply not available. As a result, there may be instances when a particular search will yield no result. When this happens, simply change your parameters in the topics, countries and/or institution type lists and try again.
Types of Reports
You can view the data using an "individual country report" or a "comparative report."
Individual Country Report
This supplies information for all nine topic areas for each individual country.
Simply choose a country from the drop-down list and click "submit." You will be taken to that country's report. To change the country you are viewing, the country drop-down menu appears at the top of the page. Choose a new country and click "submit."
Comparative Report
From the main search page, you can also create a report that compares information across topics, countries, and institutions. To conduct a search, determine the topics you would like to compare, or choose all topics to see a wider range of data. (For more information on the topics areas, see "topics" below.) Next, select the countries you would like to compare. Finally, choose the institutional types you would like to see. (For more information on the choice of institutions, see "institutions" below.) To select multiple items for any of these, hold the CTRL key while selecting. Finally, click "submit."
A comparative report will be generated. Each country's name in the comparative report is linked to its full country report for further information. To conduct a new search, the search options are located at the top of the page. Click "clear selections" to start fresh, or add to your existing selection.
Topics
The reports cover nine separate topics:
- Country Indicators
- General Participation in the Financial Services Market
- General Approach to Regulation*
- Organizational Registration*
- Licensing Requirements and Standards*
- Capital and Reserves*
- Risk Management Guidelines*
- Reporting and Supervision*
- Tax Treatment
- Other Relevant Business Legislation
* Information provided only for those financial institutions that are subject to regulation and may be providing financial services to a low-income population.
Country Indicators
- When the information was last updated, and who may have verified the content.
- Statistics on population, geography and the economy.
- Brief information about the financial sector and the types of institutions providing microfinance – whether regulated, non-regulated, or informal.
- Legal definitions of microfinance
- Information on transformation and the development of microfinance-related policy
- Recommended reading that provides references for the country report
General Participation in the Financial Services Market
- Statistics on size and other characteristics for each type of financial institution.
General Approach to Regulation
- Applicable laws and regulations
- Definition of the institutional type,
- Name of entity that regulates each institutional type and their role,
- Type of activities that determine the regulatory status of an institution ( e.g., minimum capital, ownership status, or types of financial services provided)
Organizational Registration
- Requirements and restrictions for registering each institutional type, generally related to company law, civil codes, cooperative law, or non-profit law (not related to licensing; see below)
Licensing Requirements and Standards
- Standards for owners and officers
- Required documentation
- Auditing requirements for owners at the time of licensing
- Prohibited sources of funding
Capital and Reserves
- Minimum capital and capital adequacy requirements
- Guidelines concerning risk-weighting, loan loss provisioning, reserves, and liquidity requirements
Risk Management Guidelines
- Permitted and prohibited types of financial services
- Applicable operational rules or restrictions
- How or whether interest rates are regulated
- Risk concentration requirements
- Limitations on connected or insider business
Reporting and Supervision
- Method of supervision
- Reporting requirements
- Cost and fees of supervision
- Deposit protection mechanisms.
Tax Treatment
- Taxes on income and payroll
- Taxes on transactions
- Tax treatment of provisions and reserves
Other Relevant Business Legislation
- Debt collection
- Credit Rating and reporting requirements
- Accounting requirements
- Security and its valuation
- Consumer protection rules
Institutions
To produce a comparative report, unique institutional types in each country were categorized into five types of institutions:
- Banks (includes commercial banks and any for-profit institution offering a full-range of financial services, regardless of ownership structure)
- Non-bank financial institutions (those institutions not fully licensed to carry out all services)
- Cooperatives/credit unions (those institutions owned by members or clients)
- Government lending funds and special purpose institutions (those institutions set up by governments, such as BAAC in Thailand, Bansefi in Mexico, Small Business Funds in Russia, etc.)
- Not-for-profit institutions (those NGOs, foundations, etc. that do not seek profit and provide some microcredit, etc.)
The term "Microfinance Institution" (or, MFIs, as it refers to any institution whose main business is providing financial services to low-income people or micro-enterprises) was not included as a separate category, as MFIs can belong to any number of these institutions above.