FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Keynote speakers include Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Sheryl WuDunn

NEW YORK, March 23, 2010 – Women’s World Banking, the largest global network of microfinance institutions and banks dedicated to the economic empowerment of women, will hold its 8th annual Microfinance and the Capital Markets Conference on March 23 and 24 in New York City. This two-day event, sponsored by J.P. Morgan, will bring together leading professionals from the mainstream financial sector and the microfinance industry, including senior managers of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and social and commercial investors, to build awareness of developments and investment opportunities in microfinance.

“The increasing role of the capital markets in microfinance is critical to the future of the industry and to the financial wellbeing of commercial banks and investors who are looking for new opportunities,” said Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of Women’s World Banking. “Investments in microfinance will not only open new markets to commercial banks, but it will expand opportunities for millions of women around the world who deserve a chance to be financially independent.”

This year’s conference, titled “Overcoming Challenges and Creating Opportunities,” is also an opportunity to tackle key industry issues, learn about industry capital markets transactions and discuss lessons learned from a challenging year. Panel topics include the role of microfinance as a socially responsible investment; the impact of the financial crisis and a prognosis for 2010; lessons learned in setting appropriate lending standards; reflections on return expectations in microfinance; and strategies for picking the next generation of MFI winners.

“There is significant potential for using market-based solutions to support microfinance and other products serving the base of the economic pyramid,” said Christina Leijonhufvud, Managing Director and head of J.P. Morgan’s Social Finance unit. “J.P. Morgan is proud to support Women’s World Banking in its efforts to build inclusive financial systems for women and underserved communities.”

The conference will feature a competition in which MFIs team up with J.P. Morgan employees volunteering their time, to generate innovative solutions to current industry hurdles. The MFI competition will feature relevant case studies and provide the audience with the opportunity to gain knowledge from “live” lessons learned.

Speakers for the conference include Elizabeth Littlefield, Director of the World Bank and the CEO of CGAP; Bob Annibale, Global Director of Microfinance at Citi; Jonathan Morduch, Professor of Public Policy and Economics at NYU; and founders and CEOs of leading MFIs around the globe. 

The closing remarks will be given by Pulitzer Prize winning author Sheryl WuDunn, who co-wrote with her husband, Nicholas Kristof, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Ms. WuDunn is also being honored at the WWB Global Dinner on March 25 with leaders from its network of 40 microfinance institutions to celebrate and benefit a shared mission of empowering women through microfinance. The other honorees at the dinner include Citi, for its long-standing support of WWB and the microfinance sector; and Alba Luz Bustos, a microfinance client of WWB network member WWB Colombia. The dinner will take place at Gotham Hall in New York City.

“One of the best ways to fight poverty is to educate women and give them economic opportunity.  Microfinance institutions are at the center of that solution. I’m looking forward to seeing more and more people getting involved in this effort,” said Sheryl WuDunn.

For more information on the Microfinance and the Capital Markets Conference and the Global Dinner, please visit http://www.womensworldbanking.org/.

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About Women’s World Banking

WWB is a leading global network of 40 microfinance providers and banks, working in 28 countries to bring financial products and services to low-income entrepreneurs, especially women. The network is supported by an international team of experts based in New York who deliver expertise in product design and distribution, access to capital markets, and customer care and insight. The network serves over 23 million micro-entrepreneurs.  For more information on WWB, please visit its website at http://www.womensworldbanking.org/.

About J.P. Morgan

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. Information is available at www.jpmorgan.com.