Joint Statement Responds to IFC Board Decisions on Cambodia Microfinance

A group of researchers, civil society organizations, and borrower protection practitioners has issued a joint statement responding to recent IFC Board decisions related to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) investigation into microfinance investments in Cambodia.

The statement provides a critical interpretation of the decisions and raises concerns about the Board’s conclusion that borrower-related risks linked to lending and debt collection practices fall outside the scope of IFC’s Sustainability Framework, as well as the decision to pause CAO’s handling of financial consumer protection complaints in microfinance while broader policy issues are discussed.

The statement is part of a wider and increasingly heated debate about microfinance borrower protection, accountability, and the responsibilities of development finance institutions investing through financial intermediaries. It is hosted by ODRIIS, a research observatory focused on rural dynamics, inequality, debt, and finance.
 

You can read the statement here and related source documents:

• IFC Board Decision on CAO Cases Relating to Financial Consumer Protection in Microfinance, July 6, 2026 — CAO update on the Board decision to suspend ongoing financial consumer protection cases in microfinance and not take new ones while policy issues are discussed.
• Statement from IFC Board on the CAO Investigation Report on Cambodia Microfinance, June 24, 2026 — IFC Board statement approving IFC’s Management Report and Special Management Action Plan while recognizing no policy noncompliance under IFC’s Sustainability Framework
• Researchers and Microfinance Experts Call on IFC to Better Integrate Borrower-Related Risks Into Sustainability Framework, May 25, Odriis Observatory — Statement from researchers and microfinance experts recommending that IFC more clearly incorporate borrower-related risks and impacts into its Sustainability Framework, due diligence, and supervision of financial intermediary investments.
• Financial Inclusion, Borrower-Related Risks and Impacts: Recommendations for the IFC Sustainability Framework Review, May 15, 2026 — Researcher submission recommending that borrower-related risks, including over-indebtedness, be explicitly integrated into IFC’s due diligence and supervision of financial intermediary investments.
• IFC’s Management Report and Special Management Action Plan, February 2026 — IFC Management’s response to the CAO investigation, including proposed actions to address harms to complainants and strengthen responsible finance practices.
• CAO case page: Cambodia: Financial Intermediaries-04 — CAO’s main case page with the case background, timeline, investigation materials, and related documents.
• CAO Compliance Investigation Report, October 2025 CAO’s investigation report on IFC’s due diligence and supervision of microfinance investments in Cambodia, including its assessment of borrower-related risks and IFC’s Sustainability Framework.

• Guidance Note on Financial Intermediaries, IFC September 2023 — IFC guidance clarifying how its environmental and social requirements apply to financial intermediary clients and their sub-project