Philip J. Philliou Named CEO, Habib Ahsan Shah Newaz, Project Director of Grameen America, Inc.

WASHINGTON, March 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Philip J. Philliou, an American financial services executive, and Habib Ahsan Shah Newaz, a Bangladeshi executive of Grameen Bank, have been appointed chief executive officer and project director, respectively, of Grameen America, Inc., a for-profit microfinance company that provides small loans, savings programs, and other services to poor people in the United States.

Grameen America is modeled after the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, founded in 1983 by 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus.

Professor H. I. Latifee, managing director of Grameen Trust, said the company Philliou will head and Newaz will direct is a social business enterprise that is majority owned by the Grameen Trust, an affiliate of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh.

"Phil Philliou brings a wealth of experience in a broad range of healthcare and financial services businesses, including UnitedHealth Group, MasterCard International, and American Express," Latifee said. "His financial expertise and new product development experience coupled with his accounting and legal training prepare him for this exciting new venture."

"Habib Ahsan Shah Newaz' hands-on experience with training programs as a zonal manager for Grameen Bank and as a senior technical advisor for Grameen Foundation USA in the Dominican Republic will provide invaluable leadership in replicating the Grameen model in the United States," Latifee said.

Philliou said Grameen America will provide initial non-collateral credit- establishment small loans of $500 minimum and savings programs to poor Americans from all backgrounds, with initial efforts focused on the New York City area. The venture will also develop other programs and services that will generate income and reduce poverty, spreading eventually across the United States. Grameen Trust, based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, will guide the implementation of Grameen America's strategy and use of the Grameen group model in America.

Philliou said, "The key to success achieved by the Grameen model, which is a unique technology transfer from an under-developed country to a developed county, is to require borrowers, who are also savers, to form or join small groups of borrowers who meet regularly to encourage and reinforce loan repayments and savings by the group participants." The model also serves as a cost-effective means for recruitment, screening, training and motivation, while forming a supportive social network. Group meetings are held at churches, community centers, or places of work that are convenient to the group members.

"To grow as rapidly and sustainability as possible, the venture will partner with other organizations that serve people who are poor while seeking support from established community-based groups such as faith-based organizations, YMCAs, community clubs and students," Philliou explained.

As a social business enterprise, Grameen America will reinvest virtually all of its profits in the company or other social business enterprises established by the company. Investors will receive return of their original investment plus one percent interest.

Philliou, a partner in Philliou & Selwanes Partners, LLC, was chief product and strategy officer of UnitedHealth Group's financial services division. Previously he was vice president for advanced payments and technologies for MasterCard International and director of strategy and marketing at American Express. Philliou is a graduate of Fordham Law School and Fordham University's College of Business Administration. He was an assistant adjunct professor at New York University's School of Continuing Education, Law and Finance.

Newaz has been deputy general manager and head of Grameen's training and special program department since January of 2006. From 2003 to 2005 he was senior technical advisor for Grameen Foundation USA in the Dominican Republic on a project that delivered in-service training and technical expertise. Newaz joined Grameen in 1982 and held various positions. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in science from Chittagong University in Bangladesh.

Of the estimated 750 microcredit organizations in the United States, many are operated as social welfare or training programs with non-recovery of costs. Grameen America will use a variety of techniques to build a large, low-risk customer base in an effort to achieve 100 percent cost recovery.

The Grameen model has become a notable success in developing countries such as Bangladesh, Bolivia, and India, as well as developed countries including Turkey and Kosovo.

The planned initial launch in the New York metro area will employ the build-operate-transfer strategy with which Grameen has been successful worldwide.

For more information, please visit http://www.grameen-info.org/