03.04.2011
 
Barry Topf to be appointed Senior Advisor to the Governor on Monetary Policy Issues, and will be a member of the new Monetary Committee
He will continue in his role as Director of the Market Operations Department for another four months
 
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The Governor of the Bank of Israel, Professor Stanley Fischer, has announced the appointment of Barry Topf as Senior Advisor to the Governor on monetary policy issues, and as a member of the Monetary Committee to be appointed soon in accordance with the new Bank of Israel Law. Mr. Topf will continue to serve as a member of the Bank of Israel management. He will remain in his position as Director of the Market Operations Department, which he has held for two years, for another four months.
As Senior Advisor to the Governor, Mr. Topf will work with the Governor in making decisions and formulating approaches towards the ongoing challenges facing monetary policy. He will also lead the Bank in several central areas, including macroprudential regulation and supervision; the development of extension programs for different scenarios; and the management of the Bank of Israel's entry into investments in new assets, and their absorption into the Bank’s foreign exchange reserves. In all these areas Mr. Topf will work in close cooperation with the relevant departments in the Bank and their directors.
Barry Topf, who holds a Master’s degree cum laude in Business Management from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, started working in the Bank about 30 years ago, and for the past ten years has been a member of the Bank’s management. Before his appointment as Director of the Market Operations Department in 2008, he was Director of the Foreign Currency Department. As part of his work in the Bank, he also serves as Director of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and as a member of the National Council for Payments and Settlement. Since 1994 he has been an expert consultant in the IMF, and was a member of the Ariav Committee for the development of the capital market.
During his years in the Bank, Barry Topf was responsible for several important achievements, including the entry of the shekel into the CLS (continuous linked settlement) international payment settlement system, the establishment of the Market Operations Department as part of the reorganization of the Bank, the establishment of the Bank’s representative office in New York, improvement of the management of the foreign exchange reserves and the introduction of new sophisticated management methods, and the inclusion of new currencies and assets in the reserves. He played a central role in planning and implementing the Bank of Israel's reaction to the financial crisis, including the plan to increase the size of the reserves, the intervention in the foreign currency market, the program to purchase government bonds, and the injection of liquidity into the banking system.
The Governor said that he was pleased that Barry Topf had agreed to accept the new position and the attendant challenges, which are of critical importance to the future success of the Bank, and he expressed his confidence in Mr. Topf’s ability to lead in these areas in the most professional manner.
The Governor said, “Barry Topf has already contributed a great deal to the success of the Bank. His professionalism, commitment and reputation are well-known in Israel and abroad, and their results are evident constantly. I am confident that in his new role as a member of the Monetary Committee and member of the management of the Bank of Israel he will continue to make an important and significant contribution to the success of the economy and the country.”