29.11.2010
 
The Governor of the Bank of Israel Appoints David Zaken Supervisor of Banks
 
The Governor of the Bank of Israel, Professor Stanley Fischer, today announced the appointment of David Zaken as Supervisor of Banks. David ("Dudu") Zaken will replace Rony Hizkiyahu, who leaves office at the end of 2010 after four years as Supervisor.
Dudu Zaken has broad experience in banking and regulation. He joined the Bank of Israel about twenty years ago as a research assistant in the Bank Supervision Department, and since then has held a variety of positions, including economist in the Research Department, Assistant to the Supervisor of Banks and Head of Market Risks, Head of the Institutional Evaluation Unit, and Head of the Prevention on Money Laundering, and he was responsible for the Basel 2 team in the Bank. For the last three years he was Deputy Supervisor of Banks and Head of Offsite Examination and Licensing.
Mr Zaken is a member of the Sanctions Committee dealing with banking corporations under the Prevention on Money Laundering Law, and in the past served as a member of the inter-ministerial committee on market failures in the credit card settlement system and determination of a cross-fees system, and a member of the inter-ministerial committee on the fight against money laundering. Mr Zaken has a B.A. in Economics and Statistics, and an M.A. in Business Administration, both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For ten years Mr Zaken has also been a lecturer on banking in Israel and bank management in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and in other academic institutions. Jerusalem-born Dudu Zaken is 44 years old, married, with four children.
The Governor thanked the Chair of the Search Committee, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel Professor Zvi Eckstein, and the members of the Committee, Professor Manuel Trachtenberg, head of the Planning and Budget Committee of the Council of Higher Education; Mr Shaul (Sam) Bronfeld, President of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange; Ms Ester Dominissini, Director General, National Insurance Institute of Israel; and Ms Tida Shamir, Adv., General Counsel; Director of Legal Department, Bank of Israel. The Governor said that the Committee had performed its task professionally, efficiently and thoroughly, considering many candidates for the position and consulting with many people who could offer relevant advice.
The Governor thanked Rony Hizkiyahu for his period in office, during which he led the banking system and bank supervision in Israel forward to meet the accepted international standards, internalizing the principles of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision ("Basel II"). The Governor added that he was pleased that the outgoing Supervisor had guided many excellent professional staff in bank supervision, including the incoming Supervisor, Dudu Zaken, who was selected after a careful examination of many candidates. The Governor thanked all the candidates who had participated in the selection process.