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Sub practice
Sub practice

Microfinance and Social Investment

At Allen & Overy we believe that we influence the wider communities in which we live and work and must ensure that our influence is a positive one.

Our Microfinance and Social Investment practice encompasses more than 350 lawyers located in over 30 offices across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and includes many of the leading practitioners in our key practice groups including banking, capital markets, corporate and dispute resolution.

The team has advised on a number of microfinance-related transactions and prides itself on being able to provide real and much-needed solutions helping to transform businesses in developing economies. Our clients include microfinance institutions (MFIs), banks, private investors and institutional investors. Whether on a pro bono or fee-paying basis, we aim to handle every case in exactly the same way – with professionalism and care.

On the social investment side, we have been involved in advising Social Finance Limited (Social Finance) on their Social Impact Bonds (SIBs), which are a unique investment product, structured as a fund, that directs private-sector money to fund public sector projects. In this case, the investment proceeds fund prisoner rehabilitation programmes, creating a financial return to the investors that is dependent on levels of recidivism in the prisoner group. Legal fees for negotiating and setting up the Social Finance prisoner programmes could have run into hundreds of thousands of pounds, a particularly significant amount when measured against a fundraising target of £5 million. To solve the puzzle, Allen & Overy stepped in to provide over 1,500 hours of legal advice on a pro bono basis, to help Social Finance craft and negotiate the SIB, an investment product enthusiastically accepted by investors, the Ministry of Justice and HM Treasury and used in many jurisdictions around the world as an example of groundbreaking social finance funding.

News and insights

Key regulatory topics

Publications: 20 March 2023

Key Regulatory Topics: Weekly Update 24 February - 2 March 2023

The UK’s Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Forum published this week the delayed sixth edition of its regulatory initiatives grid. HMT published a call for evidence on aligning the ring…

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Publications: 17 March 2023

States have unlimited capacity: Law Debenture v Ukraine

Foreign states formally recognised by the UK government have unlimited capacity, the UK Supreme Court has confirmed, in a significant decision in long running litigation between a trustee for…

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Key regulatory topics

Publications: 17 March 2023

Key Regulatory Topics: Weekly Update 10 - 16 Mar 2023

The headlines this week have been dominated by the events surrounding Silicon Valley Bank and analysis around the efficacy of the regulatory framework will no doubt continue for some time.  Elsewhere,…

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Forest birds eye view

News: 16 March 2023

Allen & Overy advises Ant Group on the largest ESG-linked loan conversion in Asia Pacific

Allen & Overy has advised Ant Group on the successful conversion of its USD6.5 billion syndicated loan facility (the “Facility”) into a syndicated sustainability-linked loan (“SLL”) format towards the…

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Recognition

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Social Finance and Impact Investment Group

At Allen & Overy, we believe that we influence the wider communities in which we live and work and must ensure that our influence is a positive one.