'Capital Plus' Company Announces New Name, Same Mission

CHICAGO, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ShoreCap Exchange, a Chicago-based non-profit committed to poverty reduction through increasing access to finance in developing economies, announced its name change to CapitalPlus Exchange Corporation (Exchange). Exchange partners with a private equity fund manager to execute a unique "Capital Plus" strategy that provides a combination of patient investment capital, governance support, capacity building and peer learning opportunities to reduce poverty and increase access to financial services in developing economies around the world. Since inception, the financial institutions Exchange works with have cumulatively produced over 2.4 million loans valued at more than $2 billion to micro and small business entrepreneurs in Africa, Asia and non-EU Eastern Europe. (See Editor's Note below the release copy.)

ShoreCap Exchange was founded by ShoreBank Corporation in 2003. Changes at ShoreBank Corporation became a catalyst for Exchange to rebrand. "We wanted to adopt a more contemporary identity that better reflected our strategic approach and independence," said Exchange President Lynn Pikholz. Although the name has changed, the company's vision, practices and commitments remain the same.

Exchange works directly with microfinance institutions and small business banks onsite as well as through knowledge exchange and peer learning programs. A new initiative to expand these programs to the broader market called the Small Business Banking Network (SBBN) will launch in November. The SBBN is designed to bolster the capacity and effectiveness of financial institutions to profitably serve small businesses in developing countries, helping to close the gap between microfinance and commercial banking. The SBBN will launch on November 1, 2010 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as part of a leadership forum expected to draw 60 CEOs from financial institutions in Africa and Asia and industry stakeholders. The SBBN aims to reach over 100 member banks in more than 50 developing and emerging economies within the next five years.

CapitalPlus Exchange (formerly ShoreCap Exchange) was founded in Chicago in late 2003 as a 501(c) (3) organization to strengthen financial institutions in developing countries, in response to the lack of access to sustainable financial services among the poor. The organization's mission is premised on the belief that enabling banks to increase financial access to underserved entrepreneurs and households can have a catalytic effect on stimulating growth in incomes and jobs among underserved and poorer populations.

Editor's Note: "Capital Plus" refers to capital investment plus additional support such as capacity building tools, knowledge sharing, peer learning, consulting and technology implementation. Exchange has two complementary and synergistic lines of business. It manages direct, on-site capacity building for financial institutions selected because of their poverty reduction and wealth creation potential. Secondly, Exchange engages in peer learning and banking industry building, as a cost-effective delivery mechanism to strengthen the broader development finance industry, and aiming to catalyze dramatic increases in small business finance.

SOURCE CapitalPlus Exchange