My friend David Bornstein wrote an excellent article in the New York Times in defense of the embattled Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.  Yunus started Grameen Bank in the ’70s and today is the largest microlender on Earth, serving millions of poor people in one of the poorest countries on Earth – profitably, responsibly, without subsidy.  Yunus and Grameen founded the global microfinance industry, which has created tens of billions in new wealth for hundreds of millions of poor people – including the US – and has attracted the biggest global banks. As it turns out, it was David’s book on Yunus that inspired me to change my career entirely to focus on financial services for the underbanked.

So now Professor Yunus is under attack by the Bangladeshi government, most likely for posing political threat and embarrassment.  I join David and many others around the world – and you should, too – in voicing loud support for Yunus’ life work and continued leadership role at Grameen.  I do this despite the fact that I’m at strong odds with Yunus’ evangelism for rate caps of 15% when serving the poor.  While desirable, of course, I believe such caps do more to suffocate innovation, access to capital and ultimately access to poor people, and do less to actually improve the financial lives of the poor than would a higher priced but better structured loan.  But who am I to disagree with a Nobel laureate?

Ironically, the Bangladeshi federal government is accusing Yunus of being a loan shark, of getting rich on the poor.  They’re taking issue with unsubstantiated misallocation of funds, his age and other technicalities.  David’s piece makes an excellent case why Yunus is in the right, and more importantly, why he remains important globally.  With the integrity of microfinance in jeopardy in India, under scrutiny in Mexico, and in question in many corners of the world, Yunus still is the leading voice for how to provide financial services to the world’s poor, responsibly and sustainably.  Grameen Bank remains the largest of its kind and deserves to transition its leadership in a planned process, not by force of discrediting its founder and chairman.  Such a succession process will keep the Bank’s unorthodox culture in tact, so that it can remain of service to millions in Bangledesh and a beacon to all of us who follow their lead, whether literally or in spirit.

I believe that the US’ new-school underbanked industry squarely falls into the latter category.  We may not make microloans, or agree with rate caps, but we are certainly motivated to use private markets to improve the lives of poor people – competitively, transparently and ethically.  So back off, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, we’re behind the Prof.