Staff Directory

Michael Tarazi

Lead, Incentivizing Inclusive Investments

Michael Tarazi leads CGAP’s newest work area focused on incentivizing investments to bring financial inclusion to scale.  Michael has over a decade of experience in development finance, having previously developed and led CGAP’s member engagement teams, launched and managed CGAP’s work in financial innovation for smallholder families, and led CGAP’s efforts in branchless banking regulation. He has worked with regulators around the world to develop regulatory frameworks and has also taught courses on regulating financial services at the Boulder Institute for Microfinance and the Fletcher Leadership Program for regulators.

Before joining CGAP, Michael was a corporate attorney in private practice and served as the European General Counsel to a U.S. company providing digital payment services to developing countries. He also served as an adviser to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Michael was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He has a Law degree from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. He speaks Arabic and French.
 

By Michael Tarazi

Blog

Financial Innovation for Smallholders: A New Priority for CGAP

CGAP is pursuing a new workstream centered on financial innovation for smallholder families, the largest global segment by livelihood living on less than $2 a day.
Research

Trends in Sharia-Compliant Financial Inclusion

With an estimated 650 million Muslims living on less than $2 a day, finding sustainable Islamic models could help provide financial access to millions of Muslim poor who strive to avoid financial products that do not comply with Sharia.
Blog

The Arab Spring: An Opportunity For Financial Inclusion?

This post kicks off a special series on regional reflections for 2012. The end of 2011 was undeniably a momentous time across the Arab World with uprisings first emerging in Tunisia and Egypt and then spreading to Libya, Yemen, and Syria. Expectations of 2012 were high as old regimes were discarded and new governments brought with them hopes of more equitable societies and opportunities for all, including in particular the region’s large numbers of young people. New governments have been scrambling to enact reforms that will appease the hopes of the now vocal and restless street, while trying to create democracies in a region with limited experience in democratic processes.
Research

Supervising Nonbank E-Money Issuers

This Brief addresses the supervision of e-money issuing activities of nonbank e-money issuers.
Research

Financially Inclusive Ecosystems: The Roles of Government Today

This Focus Note first describes the challenges of the broader financial inclusion landscape and then explores three promising roles government can play in developing more financially inclusive ecosystems.