FORUS Bank · Financial Statements · Annual Reports

Annual Report 2007

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Dear Partners, Clients, and Friends!

When I pick up the annual report of another company I flip to the financials and then quickly page (often backwards) through the text looking for highlights. What I want to know from an annual report and what I hope you will find in our annual report, is how the company measured success for the year: what was critical and was it achieved?

From the board’s perspective, in 2006 the overwhelming measure of success for FORUS Bank was the complete operational transition from the fund to the bank.

For those of you who do not know our history, FORUS Bank is the descendent of FORA Fund, and heir to FORA’s valued resources including client relationships, staff, creditors, partners and membership in the Opportunity International Network.

In January 2006 all loans to microbusinesses were being made by the fund, by December 2006 the bank had completely taken over the lending business and the portfolio had been transferred. In January 2006 nearly 300 staff of the fund were operating the business. By December 2006 the bank was completely staffed and a strong management team in place.

The achievement of the complete transition in one year required enormous amounts of time and determination by management and staff. On behalf of the board of directors, I want to congratulate and say thank you again to the staff of FORUS Bank for reaching our goals for the year and not settling for small measures of success!

We are especially thankful to our partners, clients, and creditors for supporting us through the transformation. Your confidence in the new bank and flexibility in working with us through a time of change, significantly contributed to a smooth transition.

The successful and speedy transition to the bank has poised the company for dynamic development in 2007, becoming the full-service microfinance bank of Russia.

Stacie D. Schrader
Chair of the Board of Directors, FORUS Bank