Kate Lauer

Kate Lauer is a lawyer and a policy advisory consultant to CGAP with more than 25 years of experience in international finance and microfinance. She works on identifying and developing solutions to the regulatory and policy barriers to financial inclusion, both at the national and global levels. Globally, Kate works with global standard-setting bodies on regulation and supervision of institutions engaged in financial inclusion, including the Basel Consultative Group’s Financial Inclusion Workstream.

Kate began her career at the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen, & Hamilton and then served as in-house counsel for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Later she served as vice president and assistant general counsel at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Kate has a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a bachelor's degree in economics from Dartmouth College. She is proficient in French and has a basic knowledge of Spanish and Hebrew.

By Kate Lauer

Research

Regulatory Sandboxes and Financial Inclusion

Regulatory sandboxes may enable financial innovations that benefit excluded and underserved customers. In most cases, a regulatory sandbox is a framework set up by a financial sector regulator to allow small-scale, live testing of innovations by private firms in a controlled environment under the regulator’s supervision.
Blog

Interoperability and Financial Inclusion: The Regulator’s Role

Interoperability can greatly expand the reach and usefulness of financial services for the poor. What do regulators need to know about the complex interplay between interoperability and financial inclusion?
Blog

Deepening Insights on Financial Exclusion Risks

Since 2011, financial Standard-Setting Bodies (SSBs) have taken fundamental steps on financial inclusion. However, a new GPFI White Paper observes that little progress has been made on understanding financial exclusion risks. What are these risks, and what can be done to address them?
Blog

Addressing Information Gaps: What Can Donors Do?

In a market, less information equals more risk, to both providers and consumers. Donors can play a role in closing information gaps and changing perceptions of risk. What types of information are relevant? How does information alter incentives?
Blog

What is Digital Financial Inclusion and Why Does it Matter?

A new Brief from CGAP aims to provide national and global policy makers with a clear picture of the rapid development of digital financial services for the poor and the need for their attention and informed understanding.