Uzbekistan: Law "On Microfinancing"

This law on microfinancing, adopted by the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan on June 21, 2006, aims to govern the relations of citizens and entrepreneurial subjects in the area of satisfying their needs for financial resources and services with the view of developing the microfinance services market and increasing the citizens' and entrepreneurial subjects' business activity.

The law includes various articles that specify the:

• Statutory documents on microfinancing;
• Activity of microfinancing as one that involves the extension of microcredit, microloans and microleasing by microfinance organizations (MFOs);
• Meanings of the terms, microcredit, microloan and microleasing;
• Organizations that provide microfinance services;
• Rules for rendering microfinance services;
• Sources of funds for microfinancing;
• Documents that legal and physical entities shall submit to the MFO;
• Information that the application shall contain;
• Process of review of the application that the MFO undertakes;
• Terms and conditions of the agreement between the MFO and the borrower;
• Process to amend/terminate the agreement;
• Rights and obligations of the borrower, as well as those of the MFO;
• Means by which the MFO shall ensure the borrower's performance.

The law also covers issues such as the storage of documents and settlement of disputes, and concludes by presenting the opinion of the Committee for Budget and Economic Reform Issues and the Senate on the microfinancing law.