Durreen Shahnaz started her career with Morgan Stanley in 1989 and was the first Bangladeshi woman investment banker on Wall Street. After stints with various organizations including the Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, Shahnaz went on to set up Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), the world’s first social stock exchange, in 2009 in Singapore. So far, IIX has mobilized more than million in capital for development, has generated million in social value and empowered more than 10 million lives. The IIX has just launched a Women’s Livelihood Bond worth $8 million, which is structured to create a special purpose vehicle (SPV). Through the SPV, funds are raised from investors who seek financial as well as social returns and are lent to microfinance institutions and impact enterprises. The goal is to benefit, through the bond, some 385,000 women across Southeast Asia.…