On March 28, 2008, Columbia Business School's Latin American Business Association (LABA) hosted its 10th annual conference, focusing on business growth, private equity and the political outlook for the region. The panel "Development in Latin America: Promoting Financial Inclusion and Development" featured Herbert Muller, president of Banco Sol, the largest microbanking provider in Bolivia; Alberto Chaia, PhD '02, associate principal in McKinsey & Company's Mexico City office; and Hans Dellien, senior manager of microfinance at Women's World Banking, a microfinance lending institution. The panel was moderated by David Beim, professor of professional practice at Columbia Business School.

Microfinance has grown beyond its early roots and is seeking ways to increase the scale and diversity of its product offerings - this was the message communicated clearly by the distinguished panelists for "Development in Latin America: Promoting Financial Inclusion and Development." The field was made famous by Bangladesh's Grameen Bank, which focuses predominantly on supplying small, short-term loans to impoverished groups of bank customers. The panelists were, however, in agreement that the scale and diversity of the banking needs of the poor in Latin America now call for an expansion in the size and scope of financial products historically offered by microfinance lenders.

The panelists also highlighted that, while most players agree that the ultimate aim of microfinance is to increase financial participation by the poor and spur economic growth, there remain some differences of opinion about how to structure microfinance organizations to allow them to grow while still serving what panelist Herbert Muller of Banco Sol repeatedly referred to as "the double bottom line - expecting both financial and social returns."