Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors is composed of 9 members. 4 members are executive while 5 members are non-executive.

Functions of Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO are fulfilled by different persons.
Independence declarations have been received from all independent board members.
Independence criteria of the Board Members are explained in Corporate Governance Compliance Report.
Basics and principles regarding activities of the Board of Directors and of the committees reporting to the Board of Directors are explained in Regulation of the Board of Directors.

Mr. Alqassim graduated from Higher Colleges of Technology with a Diploma in Business - Banking and Finance in 1995. He started his career at National Bank of Dubai as a Chairman. During his time in National Bank of Dubai, he also attended University of Wollongong and got his master's degree in International Business Management in 2001. He is currently appointed as Vice Chairman and CEO of Wasl Asset Management Group, Vice Chairman, Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Real Estate Corporation, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD Bank PJSC and Chairman of Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC.

Shayne Nelson has an extensive banking career with experience in various roles. Prior to joining Emirates NBD, he served in Singapore as the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Private Bank. He was also the Chairman of Standard Chartered Saadiq Islamic Advisory Board and a Board member of Standard Chartered Bank (China) Ltd. Shayne’s previous high profile positions in the banking arena include Regional CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Middle East and North Africa, Chairman of Standard Chartered (Pakistan) Limited, and Chairman of the Banking Advisory Council to the Board of the Dubai International Financial Centre. He also held the position of Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Standard Chartered Bank, Malaysia Berhad. Shayne’s solid experience, across various functions and geographies, is a testament to his diverse background within banking. Earlier in his career, his positions included Standard Chartered Chief Risk Officer for Wholesale Banking, Regional Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking Audit in the Asia Pacific Region and India, as well as Regional Head of Credit in Hong Kong, China and North-East Asia. He was also Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking for Westpac Banking Corporation in Western Australia. Shayne is a member of the Board of Directors for Emirates NBD Capital, Emirates Financial Services, DenizBank A.Ş. (Turkey) and a Founding Member of the Higher Colleges of Technology Industry Advisory Council. A Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Shayne is also an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Managers. Shayne is married to Mariana and has two children. In his leisure time, he enjoys playing golf and spending time with his family. He is also a passionate fisherman, for which he holds a world record.

Born in 1959, Mr. ATEŞ graduated from Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration after completing his studies at TED Ankara College. He started his banking career in 1981 as an Internal Auditor at İşbank. After serving at various Interbank units from 1986 to 1993, he worked as a Branch Manager at Elmadağ, Şişli, Bakırköy, İzmir and Central Branches. He established Interbank’s Cash Management System and was promoted in 1993 to Executive Vice President in charge of Central Operations. Mr. ATEŞ worked as Executive Vice President in charge of Financial Affairs and Operations at Bank Ekspres between the years of 1994 and 1996 and led the bank’s restructuring project under the consultation of Bank of America. He established Garanti Bank Moscow in Russia and worked as CEO for one year starting from June 1996. He has continued his duties as the President & CEO at DenizBank, where he started in June 1997 as the Founder President.

During his management tenure, DenizBank shares were offered to public in October 2004 where 5.5 times oversubscription was recorded. His management also ran the process of selling Zorlu Holding-owned DenizBank shares to Dexia S.A. in May 2006 for 3.250 Billion Dollars with 4,7 times its book value which is a record in Turkey, the sales process of 99.85% of DenizBank shares owned by Dexia Group to Sberbank 6 years later in June 2012 for 3.6 Billion Dollars with 1.33 times its book value. as well as the sales process of 99,85% of DenizBank shares owned by Sberbank to Emirates NBD for 15,48 billion TL and 1.0 multiplier despite challenging market conditions. In addition, the transfer of Deniz Emeklilik for 256 million Euros with 10 times its book value with a 15-year sales agreement in 2011 and taking over the retail Banking of Citi Turkey with about 1500 employees in 2013 also took place under the management of Mr ATEŞ.

Serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors at DenizBank subsidiaries Deniz Yatırım Menkul Kıymetler A.Ş., Intertech A.Ş, DenizBank Moscow and DenizBank AG Vienna, Hakan ATEŞ also assumes the duty of Member of Board of Directors at Emirates NBD Egypt as of September, 2020. Granted the “Those who Add Value to Turkey” Award presented by Bahçeşehir University in 2015, ATEŞ is with two children and speaks fluent English.

Aazar Khwaja is ENBD Group Head of International. Having served within the ENBD Group since September 2012, Khwaja has over 25 years of experience in treasury and global markets across a number of geographies.

Aazar joined ENBD in 2012 as Group Treasurer and Head of Global Banking and Markets. Prior to joining ENBD, he was the Regional Treasurer for Emerging Markets/Africa with Barclays Bank PLC, during which he also served as Chairman of Barclays' regional Assets and Liabilities Management Committee.

His previously served as Managing Director and Head of Markets in Citigroup's Central and Eastern European division, Group Treasurer for Saudi Hollandi (ABN AMRO) Bank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Managing Director of Treasury for ABN AMRO/K&H Bank in Hungary, General Manager of Treasury for ABN AMRO in Romania, as well as Country Treasurer for Citibank NA in Pakistan.

Aazar holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Karachi, a Master of Business Administration with the Institute of Business Administration, Pakistan and a Corporate Governance International Directors Program qualification from INSEAD, France.

Ahmed Al Qassim leads the Corporate and Institutional Banking division of Emirates NBD, serving Corporates, Government departments and entities, Financial Institutions and Sovereigns across the Emirates NBD Group.

With more than 18 years of experience in commercial and investment banking, Al Qassim has championed the adoption of best practices in digital innovation, AI and CX to enhance Emirates NBD’s corporate banking proposition. He has led the product development and implementation of globally recognised trade ﬁnance and cash management solutions, including Islamic products while overseeing the lending strategy for the bank’s corporate and institutional client base. In his earlier role, Al Qassim managed the successful transformation of multiple business units, created synergies in cross-functional teams and inculcated the principles of risk management, while remaining relevant to the client.

Prior to joining Emirates NBD, Al Qassim was the Chief Executive Oﬃcer of Dubai Group - a Dubai Holding entity and has also held senior roles at General Electric and Mubadala - GE Capital. He has previously served on the Boards of Bank Muscat, Shuaa Capital, EFG-Hermes and Sun Hung Kai Properties. Al Qassim is a member of Emirates NBD’s Executive Committee and holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Victoria in Canada.

Dr. Lenzmann graduated from TU Dortmund University with a diploma in Physics and achieved his PHD in 2001 and has 20 years of international experience in risk management, advisory and data analytics in developed and emerging markets. Starting his career as a Research Assistant at the University of Dortmund in 1996 he subsequently worked for Commerzbank leading the Operational Risk Quantification Team from 2001 to 2005 and, as a Senior Market Risk Manager. He worked with KPMG as Associate Director from 2006 to 2008.

Dr. Lenzmann joined Emirates NBD in 2008 as Vice President, Head of Operational Risk before taking on the role of Senior Vice President and Group Head of Operational Risk in August 2010, responsible for operational risk, cyber risk management, business continuity management, reputational risk and outsourcing, fraud prevention and investigations in addition to mergers and digital banking. Dr. Lenzmann is a Member of the Board of Directors and Audit and Risk Committee at DenizBank since March 2021.

Dr. Lenzmann has a proven track record of enterprise wide transformation of operational risk, enterprise risk, market risk, credit risk frameworks and methodologies. He is highly experienced in leading multinational and cross functional teams across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. During his career he has successfully established risk management frameworks for Retail Banking, Wealth Management, Private Banking, Corporate Banking, Capital Markets, Treasury, Digital Banking, Insurance, Asset Management, Financial Brokerage and Payment Services.

Born in 1969, ÇALIKLI received her bachelor’s degree from Middle East Technical University, Department of Statistics in 1992 and completed her MBA studies at Koç University in 2000. Starting her career in 1992 as Partner at Retsam Ltd. Şti., ÇALIKLI later served as Auditor at Dışbank between the years of 1995 and 1997, Corporate Credits Analyst and Market Risk Manager at Citibank A.Ş. between the years of 1997 and 2002. Continuing her works in retail credits from 2002 to 2009, ÇALIKLI then assumed the duty of Consumer Credits Country Head at Citibank A.Ş. She served as Head of Risk Management Centre at TFKB from 2009 to 2014, Head of Corporate Credits at First Abu Dhabi Bank from 2014 to 2018, Chief Credit Officer at Commercial Bank of Dubai from 2018 to 2021 before she assumed the role of Senior Risk Advisor at Emirates NBD in 2021. ÇALIKLI has been nominated as Denizbank Board Member as of January 2022.

Born in 1964, Mr. KUMRU received his BA degree from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, and MA and PhD from Istanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences. Holding several positions at Esbank T.A.Ş. between the years of 1987 and 1999, he was nominated as Executive Vice President in 1998. Mr. KUMRU joined DenizBank Financial Services Group in 1999. After serving as Executive Vice President in charge of DenizBank A.Ş. Corporate Marketing Group, General Manager of DenizLeasing and DenizFactoring, he was nominated as General Manager of DenizBank Moscow in 2004. Between the years of 2009 and 2011, he served as Executive Vice President in charge of Corporate, Commercial Banking, Public Project Finance and International Subsidiaries Group at DenizBank A.Ş. He later assumed the role of Executive Vice President in charge of Wholesale Banking Group from 2011 to 2012. Derya KUMRU has continued his duty as Member of the Board of Directors at DenizBank A.Ş. since December 2012, and he has assumed the functions of Project Finance, Financial Restructuring and Credit Follow up and Risk Monitoring Groups, as of March 2021.

Born in 1964, Mr. KAYA graduated from Gazi University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Public Administration in 1985. Starting his banking career at Pamukbank in 1986, he held several positions at TEB, Marmara Bank and Alternatif Bank, respectively. He worked as Branch Manager at Bank Ekspres between the years of 1994 and 1997. Joining DenizBank A.Ş. in 1997 as Ankara Branch Manager, he then served as the Central Anatolia Regional Manager in 2002 and 2003, and later as the Executive Vice President in charge of Administrative Services Group from 2003 to 2016 at the bank. Having served as the Executive Vice President in charge of Administrative Services and Investment Group at DenizBank A.Ş. and Chairman of the Executive Board of DFSG Investment Group between June 2016 and 2020, KAYA has continued his duty as the Board Member in charge of Administrative Services and Investment Group from June 2020 to July 2021. As of July 2021, he has been serving as the Board Member in charge of Administrative Services Group.

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Board of Directors

Hesham Al Qassim - Chairman Of The Board Of Directors

Shayne Nelson - Vice Chaırman Of The Board Of Directors

Hakan Ateş - CEO - Member of the Board of Directors

Aazar Ali Khwaja - Member of the Board of Directors and Management Board

Ahmed Mohammed Aqil Qassim Alqassım - Member Of The Board Of Directors

Dr. Björn Lenzmann - Chief Risk Officer - Member of the Board of Directors and Management Board

Burcu Çalıklı - Member of the Management Board and the Board of Directors

Derya Kumru - Member of the Board of Directors and Management Board

Tanju Kaya - Member of the Board of Directors and Management Board