Rakefet Russak-Aminoach

The tight regulation of Israel’s banks is credited with helping institutions largely weather the 2008 financial crisis, and not that much has changed, some eight years later. In late 2015, the country’s bank supervisor called for banks to slim down and reduce costs to consumers. Russak-Aminoach, whose bank posted a 73% increase in profits to $730 million, responded by announcing the early retirement of 700 of its more than 12,000 employees. The bank will also shutter some branches and launch a fully-mobile bank called Pepper later this year. Russak-Aminoach must also contend with a new Israeli law that effectively caps bankers’ salaries, including her own, which at about $2.1 million was the highest among CEOs of the country’s top four banks last year.