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Grameen Bank
HQ: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Business: Banking
Founded: 1976
2007 total assets under management: $1 billion
Managing director: Muhammad Yunus
Grameen provides small individual loans to the rural poor of Bangladesh—97% of its clients are women. The for-profit business rarely requires collateral and claims that more than 50 million people have leveraged the money to escape poverty. In 2006, the company and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, won the Nobel Peace Prize.
