ALBAWABA - The President of the central bank of the Republic of Turkey, Şahap Kavcıoğlu, has been removed from his position and replaced by Hafize Gaye Erkan. This historic appointment marks Erkan as the first female President of the central bank in Turkey.
As per the decision announced in the Official Gazette bearing the signature of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the leader of the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP), which is the Justice and Development Party, and the President of Turkey, Hafize Gaye Erkan has been appointed as the Governor of the central bank of the Republic of Turkey. Consequently, a woman has attained the position of central bank governor for the first time in Turkey.
Hafize Gaye Erkan's appointment as the first female central bank governor is viewed as a positive development by Şenol Babuşcu. The primary objective is to secure borrowing from international markets and attract foreign capital to Turkey, which is crucial to revive the Turkish economy. The strategy involves identifying individuals capable of bringing foreign funds through personal relationships.
Life Journey of Hafize Gaye Erkan:
Hafize Gaye Erkan, born in Istanbul in 1982, graduated from Istanbul Erkek Lisesi and completed her undergraduate studies in Industrial Engineering at Bogazici University in 2001.
Continuing her education in the United States, Erkan obtained a doctoral degree in Operations Research and Financial Engineering from Princeton University in 2005. She also completed two educational programs in management sciences at Harvard Business School and leadership at Stanford University.
Erkan worked at Goldman Sachs for nine years, providing advisory services on various financial aspects to major banks and insurance companies in the United States.
After taking over the management of the bank in June 2021, Hafize Gaye Erkan resigned in December of the same year, surprising investors. The bank was the largest to collapse in the United States since the 2008 financial crisis.
Following the bank's collapse in April, individuals who purchased shares between January 14, 2021, and March 14, 2023, filed a collective lawsuit against First Republic Bank's executives and the auditing firm KPMG, which oversaw the bank. Hafize Gaye Erkan and the bank's former CEO, James Herbert, are among the executives named in the collective lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that the bank's executives misled shareholders regarding the bank's growth figures, balance sheet, and liquidity position, while underestimating the pressure caused by rising interest rates on the bank's business model.
Prior to the collective lawsuit, the bank surprised investors by announcing a loss of 58% of its deposits, totaling $102 billion, in the first quarter of the year.
Erkan is known for her expertise in banking, investment, risk management, technology, and digital innovation. She has also served on the Advisory Council of the Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering at Princeton University.
On June 9, 2023, Hafize Gaye Erkan was appointed as the President of the central bank of the Republic of Turkey, as announced in the Official Gazette bearing the signature of President Erdogan. This appointment marks the first time in the history of the Republic of Turkey that a woman has been appointed as the President of the central bank.
