Newsmaker: Who is Hafize Gaye Erkan, Turkey's first female central bank chief?

First Republic Bank

09/06/2023 14:32

By Karin Strohecker
       LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - Turkey's new central bank
governor Hafize Gaye Erkan faces the tough task of alleviating a
bruising cost-of-living crisis while hoping to restore investor
confidence at home and abroad after years of unorthodox
policymaking.
    Appointed on Friday, the 43-year old is the first woman at
the helm of the country's central bank, taking over from Sahap
Kavcioglu, who spearheaded President Tayyip Erdogan's
rate-cutting drive against a backdrop of soaring inflation. 
    Her new role makes her one of only around a dozen women
currently serving as central bank governors around the world,
including the likes of ECB President Christine Lagarde, Russian
Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina and Serbia's Jorgovanka
Tabakovic.  
    Erkan holds degrees from Bogazici University in Istanbul,
graduated from Harvard Business School's Advanced Management
Program and holds a PhD in Operations Research and Financial
Engineering from Princeton University. 
    She joined Goldman Sachs in 2005 as an associate and was
named a managing director in 2011, making her one of many alumni
of the Wall Street bank who have taken up prominent positions in
the world of monetary policymaking, from former Bank of Canada
and Bank of England governor Mark Carney to former ECB president
Mario Draghi and former New York Fed president William Dudley.
    From Goldman she joined First Republic Bank, where she
eventually took over as co-CEO in June 2021. Her resignation
there in December 2021 surprised investors, who had expected her
to eventually take the reigns at the major U.S. lender, which
collapsed in late April this year. She received a $10 million
severance package, according to the bank's filings.
    Widely seen as a respected figure in the financial industry
and featuring on Crain's Notable Women in Banking & Finance
list, Erkan sits on the board of Marsh McLennan.
    Having spent all of her professional life outside Turkey,
Erkan has no formal central banking experience, making her
leanings for monetary policy unclear.
    Those who have worked with her were not surprised that she
has now accepted a public role, however.
    Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of Partnership for New York
City, a nonprofit organization where Erkan once served as a
board director, says Erkan was seen as "tough, smart, and
effective."
    "She also expressed a deep interest in public policy and the
welfare of the community, so it is no surprise that she would
consider public service," Wylde said.

 (Reporting by Karin Strohecker, additional reporting by
Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
 ((karin.strohecker@thomsonreuters.com; +442075427262; Reuters
Messaging: karin.strohecker.reuters.com@reuters.net))