Board of Directors
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Fuat Erbil graduated from Middle East Technical University, Department of Computer Engineering. He went on to obtain his MBA from Bilkent University and a doctorate degree in Banking and Finance from Istanbul Technical University. Mr. Erbil joined Garanti in 1997 as Distribution Channels Unit Manager. He has served as CEO of Garanti Bank since September 2, 2015. Mr. Erbil is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Garanti Pension and Life.
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors
Onur Genç graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering; subsequently, he received his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. Having commenced his professional career in 1996, he most recently served as Senior Partner and Country Manager of a global management consulting firm. Mr. Genç joined Garanti Bank on March 20, 2012 as Executive Vice President of Retail and Private Banking. He also assumed the CEO role at Garanti Payment Systems in May 2012. Mr. Genç is currently a Board Member at Garanti Asset Management, Garanti Pension and Life, Garanti Technology, Garanti Bank S.A. (Romania), Garanti Payment Systems and the Chairman of Garanti Mortgage.
Board Member
Didem Başer graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Civil Engineering. She went on to obtain her M. Eng. from the University of California Berkeley, College of Engineering. Starting her professional career in 1995, Ms. Başer worked at McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, for seven years prior to joining Garanti Bank; her most recent position at McKinsey was Associate Partner. She joined Garanti Bank in 2005 and worked as Coordinator in Retail Banking for seven years. Ms. Başer was appointed to her current position in 2012. With 19 years of experience in banking and business administration, Ms. Başer is the Vice President of Digital Banking.
Board Member
Javier Bernal Dionis obtained his Law Degree from the University of Barcelona, received an MBA from IESE Business School, University of Navarra, and then completed the Accounting Program of EADA Business School. After working at Barna Consulting Group as Partner and at Promarsa (New York, USA) as General Manager, he joined BBVA in 1996. Until 1999, he served as Segment Manager of Retail Banking (Spain) at BBVA. Mr. Dionis founded an Internet portal outside of BBVA between 2000 and 2003. From 2004 to present, he has assumed various roles within BBVA, including Head of Innovation and Business Development reporting to the CEO (2004-2005); Head of Business Development for Spain & Portugal and Executive Committee Member (2006-2010); Head of Commercial & Retail Banking under Global Retail and Business Banking (2011-2014); and Business Alignment Director for BBVA and Garanti (2014-2015). Mr. Dionis has served as Board Member of Garanti Bank since July 27, 2015. He is also in charge of coordination between BBVA and Garanti.
Board Member
Maria de la Paloma Piqueras Hernandez studied law and economics at Pontificias de Comillas University from 1984 until 1990, and she became a Certified Financial Analyst after attending the EFFAS certification program between 1993 and 1994. In 1990, Ms. Hernandez joined BBVA Group, where she served in several roles within Portfolio Management. She served as Fund Manager in Investment Management for 10 years and was later appointed Head of the Innovation and Product Development Department. In September 2009, Ms. Hernandez was appointed CEO of SGIIC, an asset management company of BBVA Group, and was in charge of the management of Private Pension and Investment Funds for Spain and Portugal. Since January 2012, Ms. Hernandez has been heading BBVA Group's Global Portfolio Management.
Board Member
F. Nafiz Karadere is a graduate of Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of International Relations. After working as a senior executive at various private banks, he was appointed Executive Vice President in charge of SME Banking/Corporate Brand Management and Marketing Communications at Garanti Bank in 1999. Mr. Karadere is also a Board Member at Garanti Pension and Life and the Teachers Academy Foundation.
Board Member
Johannes Antonius Nijssen is a graduate of Erasmus University, Business Econometrics Department in Rotterdam. He began his professional career in 1978 at Nationale Nederlanden, where he held various roles. In 1992, he was appointed General Manager of NN Life Company. After the merger of NMB with Postbank, NN was renamed ING, and Mr. Nijssen was appointed Executive Board Member of ING Netherlands and ING Europe. He served as the Global President of Pension at ING Group and as CEO of Central Europe Insurance. Subsequently, Mr. Nijssen became a partner at Netspar (ThinkTank NETwork Studies Pensions).
Board Member
A graduate of Middle East Technical University, Department of Business Administration, M. Cüneyt Sezgin obtained an MBA from Western Michigan University and a PhD from Istanbul University Faculty of Economics. He has served in various executive positions at several private banks. Mr. Sezgin is the Country Director of Global Association of Risk Professionals, and he also serves as a Board Member at Garanti Bank SA, Garanti Pension and Life, Garanti Factoring, Garanti Leasing, Eureko Insurance and the Garanti Bank Pension Fund Foundation.
Board Member and CEO
Cemal Onaran graduated from Middle East Technical University, Department of Public Administration in 1990, and began his professional career the same year as Assistant Auditor on the Audit Committee of Garanti Bank. After working as Regional Manager at various regional offices of Garanti Bank until 2007, he was appointed CEO of Garanti Mortgage, a subsidiary of Garanti Bank, in October 2007. Since August 1, 2012, Mr. Onaran has been the CEO of Garanti Pension and Life.