The Superintendency of Banks of the Dominican Republic has issued a circular requiring all financial institutions in the country to submit sex-disaggregated data on financing to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The quarterly reporting must cover the ownership composition of MSME clients, including the percentage held by women, as well as the outcome of credit applications, including approvals, rejections and reasons for rejection. The first submission will be based on data as of Sept. 30, 2026. The measure is intended to support the WE Finance Code, a global initiative aimed at increasing financing for women-led MSMEs. It formalizes a process that began in 2023 with a voluntary implementation led by BID Invest and the Association of Multiple Banks of the Dominican Republic, which developed the reporting infrastructure, a national dashboard and a common definition of women-led MSMEs aligned with existing business classification rules. According to the release, the move makes the Dominican Republic the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean where the private sector has driven the integration of disaggregated data into the supervisory regulatory framework for the financial system. The Superintendency, the Association of Multiple Banks of the Dominican Republic and the Inter-American Development Bank Group also agreed a roadmap for the rest of the year that includes the first report of disaggregated indicators to the OECD. The WE Finance Code currently has 26 signatory financial institutions in the Dominican Republic, representing about 97% of the financial system's assets.

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