Today is Professor Shmuel Hauser’s last day as chairman of the Israeli Securities Authority. He is being replaced by Anat Guetta, former CEO of Entropy Financial Research, according to an ISA press release.
Hauser’s resignation was announced at the end of November.
Before his term as chairman, Hauser worked at the ISA as its chief economist for 17 years, leaving in 2005. He rejoined as head of the organisation in 2011. His leadership was characterised by proactive regulation and enforcement – he said in 2016: “I believe in uncompromising enforcement that creates deterrence.”
Hauser’s most notable achievement during his time as chairman was his successful opposition to the binary options industry, which was riddled with scams and, in the opinion of many, tarnishing the reputation of Israel abroad. In March 2016, Hauser told Israeli companies that they had 30 days to stop offering binary options to Israeli citizens, saying: “We are going to bring order to the jungle.”
In October 2107, after a year of work, he finally oversaw a ban on the sale of binary options from Israel to overseas countries, thus hammering home the final nail in the coffin.
Recently, he said that he would be using his last days in office to impose regulations on the cryptocurrency industry. The ISA has been wrestling with the subject of ICOs and how to regulate them. Hauser recently said that the ISA will be looking at ICOs on a case by case basis, because he recognised the value of blockchain technology but was worried about fraud. Some argued that he wanted to atone for allowing the binary options industry to get so out of hand.
In 2017, Hauser was ranked 8th of the 100 most influential people in Israel by The Marker.
His replacement, Anat Guetta, was the CEO of Arco from 2005-2008 and CEO of Entropy Financial Research from 2010-2017. Guetta also spent more than 12 years working in various leadership roles at Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank, which is the fourth largest bank in Israel. She will take on the role of chairwoman effective tomorrow.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said: “I have no doubt that Anat Guetta will lead the capital market to new areas, contributing her rich experience in the capital market.”
(Photo: ISA)
