Rakefet Russak-Aminoach

In July 2019, she announced that she was stepping down as CEO.

In May 2019, Russak-Aminoach was listed in Financial News' "50 Most Influential Women in Middle East Finance 2019" list.

In January 2018, Russak-Aminoach led a strategic investment into Bank Leumi USA, a fully owned subsidiary of the Leumi Group, with the sale of 15% of Bank Leumi USA to Endicott Capital Management and MSD Capital L.P. The agreement reflected a net worth value of approximately USD 1 billion for Bank Leumi USA, 20% above its equity capital.

In May 2018, Leumi won the Dell Technologies "Innovator Award" for the foundation of Pepper. Several months later, Russak-Aminoach announced her plans to expand Pepper to the US.

In December 2018, Leumi was named "Bank of the Year in Israel" by The Banker magazine, mainly due to the Bank's ongoing commitment to digital innovation.

In October 2018, Russak-Aminoach was listed, for the third time, in Fortune's “100 Most Powerful Women in Business” list, ranking 43rd in the international list.

In early 2017, in light of the Bank's results, Bank Leumi announced a new dividend policy of 40% of profits, following a long period with no dividend payouts. Since Russak-Aminoach took office as CEO, and until the end of the third quarter of 2018, Leumi's share price has more than doubled.

In February 2017, Leumi launched Pepper Pay, a P2P mobile payments app. Five months later, Leumi officially launched Pepper, a unique, fully digital bank, enabling complete current account management via mobile only.

In April 2017, Bank Leumi was ranked #13 in the world in the Equileap International Index which every year ranks the world's 200 leading companies according to their performance on gender equality at work.  According to Leumi's 2017 CSR report, 52% of the Bank's management team and 44% of senior management are female.

In early 2016, she established Leumi's 'Digital Banking Division', which was responsible for setting up Israel's first fully digital bank, alongside spearheading the Bank's digital transformation, marketing, innovation and Big Data activities.

In light of its achievements in the digital field, Bank Leumi has won several prestigious awards in recent years, including "Best Corporate Digital Bank in Israel" (Global Finance Magazine, 2016), and "Best Digital Bank in Israel" (Global Finance Magazine, 2017).    

In September 2016, Russak-Aminoach was listed, once again, in Fortune's "100 Most Powerful Women in Business" list. She was ranked 43rd in the international list.

In November 2016, Russak-Aminoach was included in the BBC's "100 Women 2016" list, which consists of inspirational and influential women around the globe.

In December 2016, Russak-Aminoach was selected, once again, as one of the "Ten Most Innovative CEO's in Banking" by Bank Innovation.

Rakefet Russak-Aminoach has appeared as a guest  speaker at several prestigious international conferences, including Financial Times Innovate(November 2016, London), where she delivered an opening keynote; Money 20/20 (October 2017, Las Vegas), where she spoke on the future of banking and her decision to launch the digital bank Pepper; and DLD Munich (January 2019, Munich), where she explained the difference between applying a "Digital Skin" strategy as opposed to providing a real digital experience - building it from the core.

Russak-Aminoach was listed in Fortune Magazine's "100 Most Powerful Women in Business" list three times (2015, 2016, 2018 ), and was the only Israeli on these lists. Rakefet is considered a pioneer in the digital banking field and is known for launching Pepper, Israel's first mobile-only bank.

In September 2015, Russak-Aminoach was listed, for the first time, in Fortune magazine's list of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women in Business". She was ranked 23rd in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

In December 2015, Russak-Aminoach was selected as one of the "Ten Most Innovative CEO's in Banking" by the US Fintech blog Bank Innovation.

In May 2014, Russak-Aminoach decided to significantly expand Leumi's high-tech banking operations with the establishment of LeumiTech, the Group's high-tech banking arm, which provides tailor-made financial services to Israeli high-tech companies operating around the globe. Based in Tel Aviv, LeumiTech also operates in London, New York and Palo Alto. In August 2018, LeumiTech announced it would expand its activity in the US to include non-Israeli related companies.

On May 1, 2012, Russak-Aminoach was appointed CEO of Bank Leumi. Six years after her appointment, Leumi has established itself as the leading bank in Israel in terms of profits, market cap and innovation. To reach this landmark, Russak- Aminoach has led a turnaround within the Leumi Group, focusing on digital transformation and enhancing efficiency.

In January 2004, at the age of 38, Russak-Aminoach was appointed Head of the Corporate Division of Bank Leumi, becoming the youngest Management Member in the history of the Bank. On July 1, 2011, she was appointed Senior Deputy to then CEO of the Bank, Galia Maor.

Between 1992 and 1994, Russak-Aminoach served as personal assistant to Galia Maor, then Deputy CEO of Bank Leumi le-Israel. In 1995, she became a partner at Somekh-Chaikin CPA firm (KPMG Israel). Five years later, in August 2000, she was appointed CEO of the firm.

Rakefet Russak-Aminoach (Hebrew: רקפת רוסק עמינח‎; born February 1, 1966)  has served as President and CEO of Bank Leumi le-Israel B.M.  since May 1, 2012.