Michael Tarazi

Senior Policy Specialist. Michael joined CGAP in 2008 as a member of CGAP's Government & Policy Team. He leads the team’s efforts in the area of branchless banking regulation and has worked with regulators around the world to develop regulatory frameworks. He led CGAP’s regulatory efforts in the Maldives and has worked in countries such as Nigeria, Rwanda, Fiji, Haiti and Jordan. He is a co-author of Nonbank E-Money Issuers: Regulatory Approaches to Protecting Customer Deposits and Islamic Microfinance: An Emerging Market Niche.

Michael teaches courses on branchless banking at the Boulder Institute for Microfinance. He also was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and is a member of the Forum’s Dialogue Series on Access to Finance through Technology.

Prior to joining CGAP, Tarazi was a corporate attorney in private practice and served as the European General Counsel to a U.S. company providing finance-related technological services to developing countries. He also served as an advisor to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Tarazi holds a bachelor's degree from Harvard University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He speaks English, Arabic, and French.