A special edition of the Making Waves magazine has been launched, titled "Capital for Communities". This edition explores the the central question of access to finance for community-based initiatives. Most nonprofits, social enterprises, and co-operatives identify capital as their key constraint, and when it is available, it if often not in the right form to meet the needs of these organizations. These organizations, and the respective sectors that they represent, continue to be undercapitalized related to the needs and pressures being placed on them, particularly in this economic environment.

This issue draws on perspectives from across the country in understanding and addressing the issue of access to finance. The articles range from a mapping of the financial ecosystem of the social economy, the challenges of financing social ventures, the importance of intermediaries, examples of how institutional investors can be engaged in social finance, and lessons from Quebec's experience with developing innovative social finance instruments. Collectively, these articles provide an excellent, multi-dimensional understanding of the key issues and opportunities around delivering more capital to communities.

 READ MORE

Share:  

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

An excellent report was recently released on access to capital for social enterprises and nonprofits in Ontario and Quebec by the Social Economy Centre at the University of Toronto. The project on Comparison of Policy Frameworks for Social Enterprises and Non-Profits in Ontario and Quebec is part of the Community-University Research Alliance for Southern Ontario's Social Economy.

The report begins with a contextual comparison of Ontario and Quebec, noting that there are significant historical and socio-political contextual differences between the two provinces which are reflected in the relationship of social enterprises with government and to society-at-large. The report then profiles the access to three distinct forms of capital in Ontario and Quebec - development capital, solidarity finance, and state finance.

 READ MORE

Share:  

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

This entry was originally posted at the SRI Monitor as a Special Guest Blog by Eugene Ellmen, Executive Director of the Social Investment Organization

The news that Quebec's giant Caisse de depot lost 25% of its value partly due to the collapse in the asset-backed commercial paper market (ABCP) has left people shaking their heads. Top people in government, banking and investment are now asking the obvious question: "How could they not have seen the risk in this?"

As the murky world of ABCP has come to light, it's becoming increasingly apparent that two issues were key to this massive market failure. First, the exact nature of the underlying assets were never made public; and second, the unique social risks presented by these assets were never disclosed nor understood by the market.

This lack of transparency was caused by disclosure exemptions representing massive regulatory failure; a regulatory failure that cost investors billions of dollars in assets.

 READ MORE

Share:  

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•