Governor of the Bank of Israel Dr. Karnit Flug announced today that she has decided to appoint Dr. Hedva Ber as Supervisor of Banks. Dr. Ber will begin her role during July. The current Supervisor, David Zaken, agreed to the Governor’s request to remain in his role in order to provide overlap and an orderly transition of the function.
Dr. Hedva Ber has more than 20 years of experience in banking, risk management, and regulation. She began her career at the Bank of Israel as an economist in the Banking Supervision Department, and later served as an economist and as head of the capital markets area in the Research Department. Within that framework, she published several papers on the capital market and the banking system. In 2005–08, she was sent to represent the State of Israel on the Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). In 2008, Dr. Ber joined Bank Leumi and served as deputy head of its Capital Markets Division. In 2010 she established the bank’s Risk Management Division, which is responsible for, among other things, bringing the bank’s activities in line with the increasing demands of global and domestic regulation. Since then, Dr. Ber has served as Bank Leumi’s Chief Risk Officer and member of management, and heads the credit risk committee, market risk committee, and operational risk committee.
Dr. Hedva Ber earned a BA in Economics and Political Science, magna cum laude, an MA in Economics, magna cum laude, and a PhD in Economics, all from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her doctoral thesis was on “The money market and company supervision mechanisms”. She has lectured on various courses in Hebrew University’s Economics Department and Business Administration program. Dr. Hedva Ber is married with 3 children, and lives in Mevaseret Zion.
Governor of the Bank of Israel Dr. Karnit Flug said, “I thank Dr. Hedva Ber for agreeing to take on the important, challenging, and demanding role of Supervisor of Banks. The public interest requires professional and close supervision of the banking system, in terms of protecting the public’s savings and deposits and ensuring the stability of the banking system, as well as in terms of increasing competition and fairness. I found that Hedva’s wealth of experience—in research, regulation, and the business sector—in Israel and abroad will make a significant contribution to the leadership of the Banking Supervision Department at this time. I thank the members of the search committee for their extensive and dedicated work, and all the candidates who took part in the process and expressed interest in the role.”
Dr. Hedva Ber said, “I thank the members of the search committee for their confidence in me, and I am very touched that I have merited to serve the public in an extremely important function, and to head the Banking Supervision Department at the Bank of Israel.”
The search committee established by the Governor received 13 candidate applications, and approached 9 additional potential candidates on its own. After an extensive sorting process, the committee submitted the names of the two most appropriate candidates to the Governor. The Governor examined those candidacies and decided on the appointment of Dr. Hedva Ber to the position, subject to her signing an agreement to prevent potential conflict of interest, as required.