Gates White McGarrah II (July 20, 1863 – November 5, 1940)[1] was a prominent American banker who served as the first president of the Bank for International Settlements.

In 1918, as head of the Mechanics and Metals Bank, he was aligned with William P. G. Harding, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, in his fear of "unsettlement as result of general adoption of higher rates on deposits.

"[7] On August 30, 1924, he was appointed as the American director of the general council of the Reichsbank,[8][9] the central bank of Germany from 1876 until 1945.

"[1] He served as president,[14] with a staff representing ten nationalities and speaking four languages, that operated twenty-four currencies and had investments from Tokyo to Rome and Helsinki,[1] until his retirement in 1933.

[23] For a time, the McGarrah's lived in a large mansion at 740 Madison Avenue and East 64th Street owned by Charles Jefferson Harrah and altered by architect Mantle Fielding.

[1] After a funeral at the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas, he was buried at Slate Hill Cemetery in Goshen.

In his 1940 obituary in Time magazine, they called him "Silent Gates" and "Tycoon McGarrah" (from a 1930 story).

[26] Through his daughter Marion, he was a grandfather of former Director of Central Intelligence and United States Ambassador to Iran, Richard McGarrah Helms (1913–2002).