Hafize Gaye Erkan
Hafize Gaye Erkan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1979 Istanbul, Turkey |
| Occupation(s) | Banker, executive |
| Years active | 2005–2024 |
| Known for | Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey; co-CEO and president at First Republic Bank; CEO of Greystone & Co Inc; board member at Tiffany & Co and Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc |
Hafize Gaye Erkan (born 1979 in Istanbul) is the previous governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. Before this role, she held the positions of co-CEO and president at First Republic Bank, where she also served on the board. Erkan was the CEO of Greystone & Co Inc, a nationwide real estate finance firm based in New York that focuses on senior housing. Furthermore, she has been a board member at both Tiffany & Co and Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc.
Personal life
Erkan was born in Istanbul in 1979 to parents with strong academic backgrounds—her father was an engineer, and her mother taught mathematics and physics. From a young age, she exhibited leadership qualities, even composing and marketing operas during childhood. She completed her secondary education at Istanbul High School and graduated as valedictorian with a BSc in Industrial Engineering from Boğaziçi University in 2001. She earned a PhD in Operations Research and Financial Engineering from Princeton University and pursued executive education programs at Harvard Business School as well as Stanford Graduate School of Business.
She is married to Batur Biçer, who serves as managing director at Napier Park Global Capital.
Career
Erkan began her career at Goldman Sachs in 2005 as an associate, advancing to managing director and Head of Financial Institutions Group Analytics and Strategies by 2011.
In 2014, she joined First Republic Bank as chief investment officer and co-chief risk officer. She then took on the role of chief deposit officer in January 2016, followed by promotion to president in May 2017. On February 13, 2019, she was elected to the bank’s board of directors. By July 2021, she assumed the co-CEO position alongside founder Jim Herbert, who stepped down due to health concerns in December 2021; Erkan resigned one month later.
In March 2022, Erkan joined the board of directors at Fortune 500 company Marsh McLennan and had been a member of Tiffany & Co.'s board from 2019 until its acquisition by LVMH in 2021. She was reappointed to Marsh McLennan’s board in May 2023.
On June 27, 2022, Greystone & Co Inc named her CEO; her leadership spanned from September through December 2022.
Central Bank of Turkey
After Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s re-election in May 2023 and Mehmet Şimşek’s appointment as Finance Minister, media outlets reported that Şahap Kavcıoğlu would be succeeded by Erkan as governor of the Central Bank. On June 8, 2023, Erdoğan officially appointed Hafize Gaye Erkan as the Turkish Central Bank’s first female governor, succeeding Kavcıoğlu who had held the post since March 2021.
During her tenure, Erkan reversed Erdogan’s policy favoring low interest rates that had contributed to inflation spikes and discouraged foreign capital inflow. The Central Bank sharply increased rates from 8.5% to 45%, a strategy credited with curbing inflation by January 2024.
Towards the end of 2023, Erkan publicly remarked that housing prices in Istanbul had surpassed those in Manhattan, which led her to move back in with her parents.
On February 2, 2024, she announced her resignation following press allegations that she had used her father’s influence to affect an employee’s dismissal—a charge she rejected as part of a "reputation assassination campaign." The following day, President Erdoğan dismissed her from office and appointed Deputy Governor Fatih Karahan as her replacement.
Awards and recognition
In 2001, Boğaziçi University honored her as the "Best Student of the Past Decade," and she was granted Princeton University's Gordon Y.S. Wu Fellowship to pursue graduate studies in engineering. She secured a National Science Foundation grant to support her thesis research and received several Excellence in Teaching awards. Her achievements led to her induction into the Sigma Xi Honor Society in 2003.
At age 38, she was included in the 2018 40 Under 40 lists by both the San Francisco Business Times and Crain New York Business. The following year, Crain recognized her as one of its Notable Women in Banking and Finance. The San Francisco Business Times highlighted that she was the sole woman under 40 holding a president or CEO position at one of the top 100 banks in the United States. Additionally, she was featured on American Banker’s "Women to Watch" roster.