A sound financial sector is essential to sustainable economic growth, providing efficient mechanisms for allocating local capital, resources, and risk. We invite you to explore Banyan Global's financial sector projects.
Banyan Global was awarded a contract with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to provide technical support in institution building and risk management to Mi-Bospo, a financial institution operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Banyan Global is helping Mi-Bospo transition to an operational and lending model that will enable it to keep pace with BiH’s dynamic financial sector while continuing to serve its core client base of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Banyan Global is assisting Mi-Bospo to strengthen its risk management functions, focusing primarily on financial risk. Specific tasks include helping Mi-Bospo to identify areas of weakness and implementing new policies and procedures to build a solid risk management system, including performing a risk management diagnostic, assessment, and strategic planning exercise to design and implement specific interventions required for improved risk management.
Banyan Global was a subcontractor to The Services Group on the MCC Financial and Private Sector Development Project. The project facilitated the due diligence process for MCC financial and private-sector–related programs, projects, and activities proposed by eligible countries. It also provided technical assistance to MCC and country staff with regard to project design. In addition this project assisted with early stage project implementation following compact signing. Banyan Global’s role was to provide financial-sector, enterprise-development, and gender expertise to support the project.
Banyan Global was awarded a contract with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to evaluate the First Microfinance Bank of Afghanistan (FMFB-A). The evaluation consisted of a review of IFC’s advisory services, a review of FMFB-A’s institutional capacity and performance, a client impact study using a control group for comparison, and an international benchmarking study comparing FMFB-A to other post-conflict investments in start-up banks.
As USAID/Romania prepared to close in 2008, Banyan Global assessed the impact of the United States' assistance to support the development of Romania's private sector by improving its access to finance. The assessment analyzed impacts at the firm, sector, financial-sector, and business-environment levels. Entities studied included microfinance institutions, investment funds, a mortgage-finance company, and a rural-development project. The report details the states of the private and financial sectors before the U.S. government's involvement, the types of interventions, and the changes the impacted companies and sub-sectors and the overall financial sector experienced. Report findings include lessons learned for USAID, the government of Romania, and other donors.
Through the USAID-funded SME Support through Financial Sector Development (SME-FSD) project, the QED Group contracted Banyan Global to conduct a three-day training in Azerbaijan called "Tools and techniques for effective financial risk management." The training will be provided to members of the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association (AFMA) and will cover interest-rate risk-management requirements, managing deposits, liquidity risk-management requirements, internal-audit requirements, and human-resource requirements for risk management. At the end of the course participants will be able to measure, manage, and monitor the foreign exchange; liquidity; and interest-rate risks of a microfinance institution to make more-informed decisions for continued sustainability and profitability and to meet the requirements of investors, commercial funders, and regulators. The course will contribute to SME-FSD's strengthening of AFMA's ability to be a training, service, and advocacy institution that encourages the development of non-bank financial institutions that serve MSME clients.
AED contracted Banyan Global through the USAID-funded Small and Microfinance Assistance for Recovery and Transition (SMART) program to conduct a three-day training on crises risk management for MFIs in the West Bank and Gaza. Risk management allows MFIs to minimize the adverse consequences associated with internal and external risks. This course has been tailored for the West Bank and Gaza and focuses on external risks and their internal impact, associated with the political environment. As such, it centers on helping MFIs to manage and limit losses from delinquency, as well as plan for and manage their liquidity to withstand recurring external stresses to their balance sheet because of the conflict and economic climate.
Banyan Global was a subcontractor to DAI on a task order the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Development Credit (ODC) issued to support its Development Credit Authority (DCA) activities. Our experts evaluated DCA guarantees in Mexico to provide insight on the guarantees’ origination, implementation, and impact. In addition Banyan Global researched the role of the private sector in basic education. This research developed a case for private-sector involvement in the provision of basic education and explored the financing needs of schools and related service providers. It offered USAID guidelines for investing in the private basic education sector by using the DCA, a financial guarantee mechanism through the ODC.
In collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Banyan Global conducted a global inventory of access-to-finance initiatives. Our team identified financial products, services, and initiatives throughout the developing world to increase women business owners' access to finance.
Our team delivered a four-day training program to the Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN), an umbrella organization for local microfinance institutions (MFIs). The training provided MFIs with a framework and a set of tools for managing institutional risk. The training focused on helping participants to identify and quantify an MFI's exposure to interest rate, liquidity, foreign exchange, and operational risk.
Banyan Global provided risk-management training and technical assistance to XacBank senior management, branch managers, and staff. Adapting our microfinance institution (MFI) risk-management framework to the bank's needs, Banyan Global gave XacBank the tools, including benchmarks and ratios, to better assess and manage various risks.
Banyan Global provided a one-week training course for financial service providers targeting low-income clients. The course was delivered on behalf of the International Labour Organization in Kosovo. The training covered financial statement analysis, portfolio quality indicators, efficiency indicators, profitability indicators, basic accounting transactions, accounting adjustments, financial trend analysis, and industry benchmarks.
Banyan Global was contracted by the World Bank to undertake a field assessment of existing providers of financial services in Sierra Leone. The study resulted in specific policy and operational recommendations to the government and donors on their potential involvement in the delivery of financial services to low income people. In addition, the study also examined the legal framework in place and made recommendations about needed policy clarifications and reforms. The overall sector study and policy paper Banyan Global conducted was formally presented to the financial intermediaries and government officials at a workshop co-sponsored by the World Bank and the Government of Sierra Leone and co-hosted by Banyan Global. Through this workshop and subsequent negotiation processes, the relevant government agencies and financial service institutions were able to formulate a separate government strategy to support the delivery of financial services to low-income people in Sierra Leone.