Name Position
Tayfun BAYAZIT CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
After having received BS degree in Mechanical Engineering (1980) and an MBA degree from Columbia University (Finance and International Business - 1983), Mr. Bayazıt began his banking career in Citibank in 1983 and consecutively worked in senior executive positions within the Çukurova Group for 13 years, including Yapı Kredi (Senior Executive Vice President), Interbank (CEO) and Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA Switzerland (President & CEO). He was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of Doğan Holding in 1999. He left this position in April 2001 to assume the CEO position at Dışbank within the same Group. Mr. Bayazıt, who was also appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors in the 2003 General Assembly acted as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the subsidiaries of the Bank such as leasing, factoring, insurance, brokerage. Mr. Bayazıt remained the CEO of Fortis Turkey after acquisition in April 2005 and was also appointed as Management Committee Member. In May 2006, he was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Fortis Bank until he resigned just after the Ordinary General Assembly on April 18, 2007. On April 19 2007, Mr. Bayazıt was appointed the Executive Director of Yapı Kredi and on May 1, 2007, he was officially appointed CEO of Yapı Kredi. Mr. Bayazıt is also Chairman of the Board of Directors for Yapı Kredi Asset Management, Yapı Kredi Investment, Yapı Kredi Leasing, Yapı Kredi Factoring, Yapı Kredi Insurance, Yapı Kredi Pension Fund, Yapı Kredi Nederland N.V., Yapı Kredi Azerbaijan and Yapı Kredi Moscow. yy
Alessandro DECIO Executive Director and COO (Chief Operating Officer)
Mr. Alessandro Decio graduated with a degree in Economics from Commerciale L. Bocconi and holds an MBA from INSEAD (the European Institute for Business Administration). Starting his banking career with IMI International, Mr. Decio worked in Morgan Stanley International, McKinsey and later in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He joined UniCredit Group in June, 2000 as the Head of Strategy, Mergers, Purchasers, Planning and Control Group for Foreign Banks. Mr. Decio went on to serve as Chief Operating Officer for Zagrebacka Banka and Bulbank (within UniCredit Group), as well as UniCredit Group’s Integration Project Manager. Mr. Decio was appointed UniCredit Group’s Germany Integration Project Manager at the beginning of 2006, before going on to serve as the Deputy Head of Integration Office from July 2006 to July 2007. Appointed as the Executive Director of Yapı Kredi on April 26, 2007, Mr. Decio also became the COO at Yapı Kredi on July 1, 2007.
Mehmet Güray ALPKAYA CRO (Chief Risk Officer)
Mehmet Güray Alpkaya earned his MBA from Koç University and MS in Finance from Istanbul University. He started his banking career at Import and Export Bank of Turkey in 1989 where he served as Assistant Manager in the Corporate Credit and Marketing Department before moving to Istanbul branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank N.A. in 1991 where he served in various Corporate Marketing/Sales positions including being Vice President and Head of Corporate Client Management Group. Mr. Alpkaya moved to Koçbank in 1999 to establish and develop the Project and Structured Finance function. In Koçbank he served as Head of Project and Structured Finance Group until 2003 and Head of Credit Underwriting Division between 2003 and 2006. Appointed as Assistant General Manager responsible for Credit Management at YKB in February 28, 2006, Mr. Alpkaya became the Chief Risk Officer as of 1 August 2008.
Hamit AYDOĞAN Corporate Banking Management
Having graduated from the Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Economical and Administrative Sciences, Department of Political Sciences and Public Administration, Mr. Aydoğan began his career at Yapı Kredi in 1981. Serving as an Inspector in the Inspection Committee and then as Branch Manager, Mr. Aydoğan was then appointed as the Assistant General Manager responsible for Corporate Marketing in 1993. Mr. Aydoğan later went on to serve as the Executive Director and General Manager in Yapı Kredi Factoring and Yapı Kredi Leasing, respectively. He also worked as General Manager in Koç Leasing and Assistant General Manager in Koçbank under the umbrella of Koç Holding. Mr. Aydoğan has been serving at Yapı Kredi since February 2006 as the Assistant General Manager responsible for Corporate Banking.
Marco CRAVARIO CFO (Chief Financial Officer)
Having graduated from the Faculty of Economics in University of Turin, Mr. Cravario participated at top-level financial education programs at London School of Economics and INSEAD (European Institute for Business Administration). Starting his career at Reconta Ernst & Young (Turin), Mr. Cravario held various positions in Ernst & Young (Prague) and Ernst & Young Corporate Finance (Milan). Mr. Cravario joined UniCredit Group in 2001 and headed the group’s New Europe Division M&A Unit, Planning Unit and Organization unit. After a period spent in the Retail Division to follow business development projects in the consumer credit card area, Mr. Cravario served as CFO and Executive Board Member at UniCredit’s Tiriac Bank in Romania.
Yakup DOĞAN Alternative Delivery Channels
Having graduated from Çukurova University in Adana, and has a BA in Management. Mr. Doğan was appointed Head of the Alternative Distribution Channel Department in February 2006. Prior to joining Yapı Kredi, he was with Koçbank for five years as Group Head in the Alternative Delivery Channels Department.
Mehmet Murat ERMERT Corporate Identity and Communication
Having graduated from Marmara University Department of Business Administration, he began his career in 1987 at Leo Burnett Advertising Agency. Between the years of 1989 – 1993, he worked in Advertising and Public Relations Department of Yapı Kredi. He later assumed the Media Marketing Manager with Doğan Media Group. Mr. Ermert then started working for Demirbank in 1996 as Vice President of Advertising and PR until 2000. Later in 2000, Mr. Ermert joined Dışbank – Fortis as Executive Vice President and at the same time, the board member in the Global Marketing and Communication Management (Brussels). He teaches at Anadolu Univesty and Bahçeşehir Universty.
Mert GÜVENEN Commercial Banking Management
Having graduated from the University of West Georgia with an MBA, Mr. Güvenen began his career at Yapı Kredi in 1990. Appointed as the Director of the bank’s Esentepe Corporate Branch in 1999, Mr. Güvenen continued his career at Körfezbank as the Central Branch Manager. Mr. Güvenen then worked as Corporate Marketing Director in Koçbank and General Manager in Koç Factoring. Mr. Güvenen has been serving at Yapı Kredi as the Assistant General Manager responsible for Commercial Banking since May, 2006.
Süleyman Cihangir KAVUNCU Human Resources Management
Having earned his a post-graduate MBA degree from the University of Bridgeport, Mr. Kavuncu began his career at Arthur Andersen in 1983 as an Auditor. Working as the Foreign Funds Manager at the Treasury Division of Interbank between 1985 and 1989, Mr. Kavuncu, went on to serve as Financial Controller and later as the Human Resources Director at Coca-Cola bottling company before working at Çukurova Holding as an Administrative Affairs Coordinator and at Colgate Palmolive as a Human Resources Director. Mr. Kavuncu, was appointed as Assistant General Manager at Koçbank in August, 2004, and currently continues his position as Assistant General Manager responsible for Human Resources at Yapı Kredi since February 28, 2006.
Fahri ÖBEK Information Technology Management
Having graduated from the Computer Engineering Department at Ege University and earning an MBA from Koç University, Mr. Öbek began his career at Bilpa. Advancing his career in Egebank, Mr. Öbek joined Koçbank in 1991 as a Senior Systems Analyst and was promoted to the position of Group Manager in 1996. Mr. Öbek was appointed as Assistant General Manager responsible for Information Technologies at Yapı Kredi on 6 March 2008 following his serving of the same post as Acting Assistant General Manager between 1 October 2007 and 6 March 2008.
Erhan ÖZÇELİK Private Banking and International Operations
Having graduated from the University of Evansville, Indiana, Faculty of Business Administration in Marketing, Mr. Özçelik began his career at Yapı Kredi in 1988 as Account Officer; and served for ten years as a Foreign Representative from 1991. He also served as the Assistant General Manager of Yapı Toko Bank for four years and as Executive Director in Yapı Kredi Moscow between 1997 and 2000. He assumed the position of Assistant General Manager responsible for Corporate Banking in 2001, and between 2006 and 2007, he become the Assistant General Manager responsible for International Relations and Foreign Subsidiaries. Currently, Mr. Özçelik serves as Assistant General Manager responsible for Private Banking and International Activities.
Mehmet Erkan ÖZDEMİR Compliance Officer
Having graduated from the Department of Economics at the Middle East Technical University in 1989, Mr. Özdemir served as the Sworn Bank Auditor under the Board of Sworn Bank Auditors at the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency between April, 1994 and August, 2001. Mr. Özdemir joined Koç Group in August, 2001, and currently serves as Coordinator under the Auditing Group.
Muzaffer ÖZTÜRK Retail Banking Management
Having graduated from the Faculty of Business Administration in Uludağ University, Mr. Muzaffer Öztürk began his career at Yapı Kredi as Intern Inspector in 1984. Appointed as the Vice President of the Inspection Committee in 1990, Mr. Öztürk has been the Manager of the bank’s Beyazıt and Plaza branches for between 1993 and 1997. During the same period, he also served as the Corporate Banking Coordinator of both the bank and its Esentepe branch. Assuming the duty as the Assistant General Manager of Group 2 of Yapı Kredi’s Retail Commercial Banking in October, 2000, Mr. Öztürk continued his work after August, 2003 as an Assistant General Manager responsible for Personal Banking & Business Banking Sales Management. Mr. Öztürk has been working as an Assistant General Manager responsible for Retail Sales since February 28, 2006.
Stefano PERAZZINI Internal Audit
Completing his graduate education at the Faculty of Economy at Torino University, Mr. Perazzini started his career at San Paolo IMI Bank’s branch in 1987. After he worked at the Honeywell Bull Planning and Control Department between 1989 and 1992, Mr. Perazzini then served as IT Auditor at Banca CRT Head Office and as Internal Auditor in the bank’s foreign branches in London and Paris. Assuming the position of Internal Auditor in UniCredit Holding in by September, 1999, Mr. Perazzini was then appointed as the Deputy Manager of the Internal Audit Department at Bank Pekao under the umbrella of the UniCredit Group. Serving as the Assistant General Manager responsible for Internal Audit at Koç Financial Services since March, 2003, Mr. Perazzini was appointed as the Assistant General Manager at Yapı Kredi responsible for Internal Audit since March 16, 2006.
Yüksel RİZELİ Operations
She was appointed to her current position as the Head of Operations Department in February 2006. Prior to this she held the same position in Koçbank. Ms. Rizeli has 35 years of experience in banking operations, 14 of which in the capacity of Head of Operations
Luca RUBAGA Organisation, Logistic and Cost Management
Having graduated from Cattolica University Milan in Business Administration, he started his career in Andersen Consulting working as senior consultant within the finance division between 1995 and 1999. Then he joined Allstate insurance company as Project Manager, later worked at Banca Popolare di Verona Banking Group in 2000 as Manager. Later, Mr. Rubaga served as Online Business Unit Director at Banca Primavera (Intesa Banking Group) and then became Operation Director at UniCredit Private Banking in September 2003. Mr. Rubaga joined Koçbank in March 2005 as the Responsible of Integration activities. Mr. Rubaga has been serving at Yapı Kredi since April 7, 2006 as the Assistant General Manager responsible for Organization.
Cemal Aybars SANAL Legal Activities Management
Having graduated from İstanbul University in İstanbul, Faculty of Law. He began his career in 1986 at Sanal & Sanal Law Office. He joined Shell in 1992 as Corporate Lawyer. He continued his career at White & Case until 1998. He rejoined Shell in 1998 and worked as Legal Manager. In 1999, he started working at Boyner Holding as Legal Affairs Vice President until 2006. After one year of Freelance Legal Consulting experience, he joined ELIG Attorney At Law as Senior Counsel where he continued working until 2008.
Zeynep Nazan SOMER Credit Cards and Consumer Lending
Having graduated from the Faculty of Business Administration at the Boğaziçi University of Istanbul, Ms. Somer began her career at her family company. In 1988, she joined Arthur Andersen and following her responsibilities as team leader and senior manager, she became partner in charge of finance sector between 1999-2000. Joining Yapı Kredi in September 2000, Ms. Somer served as Assistant General Manager responsible for Retail Banking and Credit Cards before being appointed to her current position as Assistant General Manager responsible for Credit Cards and Consumer Lending in February 2006.
Mert YAZICIOĞLU Treasury Management
Having graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Department of Business Administration with a post-graduate degree, Mr. Mert Yazıcıoğlu began his career at S. Bolton and Sons in 1987 as International Relations Officer. He joined the banking sector in 1989 at Koçbank and served as Customer Relations Officer, Dealer, Senior Dealer and Assistant Manager. He was promoted to Group Manager in TL/FX Management under the Treasury in 1996 and Assistant General Manager in 1999. Mr. Yazıcıoğlu has been serving as Assistant General Manager responsible for the Treasury since February 28, 2006.