    
Cooperative Finance: Global Good Practices Organized by the World Bank Group, AFD, CIDA, DFID, FMO, and USAID April 10-11, 2007 World Bank Headquarters, Washington, DC Cooperative financial institutions hold the promise of expanding access to financial services, reducing costs for basic products, and complementing the traditional banking sector. Developing and developed economies are benefiting from the innovative products and broad urban and rural distribution networks that these institutions can offer. At the same time, financial cooperatives can become a risky industry, when they are poorly regulated, or when bad loans and weak governance lead to repeated and costly recapitalizations. Public officials and practitioners are eager to learn what causes these institutions to succeed in some cases, and fail in others. In this context, the World Bank Group is working with its clients, and with bilateral and multilateral development partners, to learn more about this sector. The Bank is carrying out a survey of cooperative financial institutions operating in more than fifty countries, which finds that these institutions offer savings and credit, insurance, remittances, government transfers and payments, and that they innovate in ways that traditional banks sometimes don’t. The menus of financial services offered by financial cooperatives are as varied as the countries and regulatory environments in which they operate. Likewise, there are several schools of thought about how this sector ought to function, and policymakers often hear diverging opinions. The time is ripe to bring these perspectives together at an international forum, and to learn from good practices. The World Bank Group, AFD, CIDA, DFID, FMO, and USAID are pleased to organize an international conference on “Cooperative Finance: Global Good Practices,” that will take place April 10-11, 2007 at World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC. We cordially invite you to join the conference! Conference Organizer: Carlos E. Cuevas Adviser, Financial and Private Sector Development Department World Bank Conference Coordinator: Colleen Mascenik Financial and Private Sector Learning Program World Bank Mail Stop F4K-408 1818 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA Telephone: +1 202 473 7734 Email: cmascenik@worldbank.org Website: http://www.financelearning.org/ |
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