Crédit Agricole wished to benefit from the vision, experience and moral authority of Prof Yunus in order to develop its initiative against poverty in developing countries.
This is the origin of the decision to have a worldwide banking group join forces with Nobel Peace Prize recipient Prof Yunus, in a global initiative to further microfinance and social business.

The Grameen Group co-founded the Foundation, via Grameen Trust. It is closely tied to the Board of the Foundation through three of its representatives, including Prof Yunus himself. The Group also works in implementing the Foundation’s policy – thanks to active participation by Prof Latifee, General Manager of Grameen Trust – in the Project Committee and the Ethics Committee.

Grameen means “village” in Bengali. It’s the name of the bank Prof Yunus created in Bangladesh in 1983 to enable the poorest to have access to the credit that they could not hope for from the traditional banking sector. The Grameen Bank is thus “the bank of the villages”.

By joining with Prof Yunus to fight against poverty with the weapons of microcredit and social business, Crédit Agricole wishes to associate its name with that of Grameen.

No, the members of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees receive no pay for their duties. They do have the right to be reimbursed for costs incurred by meetings.

More on the Foundation’s governance…

The Foundation does not seek donations from the general public. In the long run, it wishes to make socially motivated investors partner to its action, within the framework of investment funds.

The Foundation has received an endowment of 50 million euros. This financial endowment was given by Crédit Agricole S.A., without any obligation to return it.

No. The Foundation was inspired by the principles developed by Prof Yunus, especially the importance given to the role of women. However, it does not limit its action to institutions that follow the Grameen microfinance model or that maintain historic ties with the Grameen family.
 

No, the Foundation has a pragmatic approach. The statuses of MFIs can vary greatly depending on the country. The Foundation may finance MFIs in NGO form, that have the status of a savings and credit cooperative or that have established themselves as corporations.

In each case, the Foundation pays great attention to the MFI’s position on the degree of poverty in the country, its faithfulness to the social mission of microfinance and its respect of the principles of properly informing and protecting clients.

More on the Foundation’s financing offer…

No, the Foundation has a pragmatic approach. The statuses of MFIs can vary greatly depending on the country. The Foundation may finance MFIs in NGO form, that have the status of a savings and credit cooperative or that have established themselves as corporations.

In each case, the Foundation pays great attention to the MFI’s position on the degree of poverty in the country, its faithfulness to the social mission of microfinance and its respect of the principles of properly informing and protecting clients.

More on the Foundation’s financing offer…

No, the Foundation does not lend to disadvantaged people directly, but offers financing adapted to local microfinance institutions (MFIs). These MFIs are selected according to orientations set by the Board of Trustees and based on a dual financial and social analysis.

The Foundation thereby contributes to the development of MFIs managed locally and that are well-positioned to maintain a relationship of proximity with borrowers who do not have easy access to sources of financing.

More on the MFIs supported by the Foundation …

No, the Foundation is designed to contribute to the fight against poverty in developing countries, with priority on Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. It operates neither in France nor generally speaking in developed countries.

But Crédit Agricole does have many initiatives in France to fight against economic and bank exclusion. One of these is the “Passerelle” system, implemented by the majority of Crédit Agricole’s regional bank cooperatives.

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No, the Foundation is non-profit-making. If there were to be operating profit, it would be fully recycled for its general-interest mission, especially in the form of technical assistance to partner institutions.

By endowing the Foundation with 50 million euros in 2008, Crédit Agricole S.A. did not benefit from any tax deduction, either in France or in Luxembourg. This endowment was taken in its entirety from Crédit Agricole S.A.’s net profit after tax.

In Luxembourg, the Foundation is exempt from payment of trade taxes, as are associations and foundations in France that are officially recognised as beneficial to the public at large.

The Foundation seeks to take action against poverty through microcredit and social business, by aiding in the development of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and of companies providing goods and services with a social purpose.

Its activities mainly take the form of loans, guarantees or equity investment. To achieve this, it uses all of the endowment it received from Crédit Agricole S.A.

This method of operating and financing is in principle incompatible with the regulatory framework of foundations in France.

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Grameen Crédit Agricole Microfinance Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation with a general-interest objective: contributing to the fight against poverty in developing countries.

It is governed by the amended law of 21 April 1928 concerning not-for-profit associations and foundations. It operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

More on the Foundation’s status…