11.02.03

Appointments at the Bank of Israel

The Bank of Israel stated on February 11 that the Governor of the Bank of Israel, Dr. David Klein, has appointed Mr. Yoav Lehman to succeed Dr. Yitzhak Tal as Supervisor of Banks. Dr. Tal is retiring from the Bank at the end of February after working there for 25 years, four and a half of them as Supervisor of Banks. As is generally known, the Banking Supervision Department monitors the activities of the banks in order to ensure that they are properly managed, remain stable, and deal fairly with their customers.

Mr. Yoav Lehman joined the Bank of Israel’s Banking Supervision Department in 1978; in 1991-93 he was the Bank’s spokesman, and subsequently served as advisor to the Governor. In 1996 he returned to the Banking Supervision Department as Assistant Department Director and in charge of the Inspection units. Since 2000 he has been Deputy Supervisor and responsible for the Institutional Evaluation units. Mr. Lehman (48) received an M.A. in Business Administration from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1982.

The Bank of Israel also stated that Professor Avia Spivak, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel, has been made responsible for the following spheres: the team monitoring Israel’s financial stability, as is customary in developed countries; the Comptroller’s Office, which is headed by Mr. Zvi Auerbach and is in charge of regulating Israel’s payments and clearing system; and the Currency Department, which is headed by Mr. Yitzhak Shmilovich and is responsible mainly for supplying notes and coins in accordance with the needs of the economy.

In addition, Dr. Akiva (Edward) Offenbacher (52) has been appointed Director of the Monetary Department, after serving as Acting Director for the last year. Dr. Offenbacher joined the Bank of Israel’s Research Department in 1982, and became Assistant Director of the Monetary Department in 1994. As is well known, the Monetary Department formulates monetary policy, deploys policy instruments, issues government bonds in its role as fiscal agent of the government, and represents the Bank of Israel in various capital market institutions. Dr. Offenbacher graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and completed his doctoral studies at the University of Chicago in 1979. Before joining the Bank of Israel Dr. Offenbacher worked as an economist at the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System in Washington.

All the appointments will go into effect on 02.03.2003.