Board of Directors

Ali Y. Koç received his bachelor’s degree at Management Faculty of Rice University. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. He started his career at American Express Bank as a Management Trainee and continued as an Investment Analyst at Morgan Stanley Investment Bank. Mr. Ali Y. Koç joined Koç Holding in 1997 and held senior-level positions until 2010 including new business development and information technologies. He was the President of Corporate Communications and IT Group. He served as a Board Member at Koç Holding for over 12 years. In addition, he was elected as Vice Chairman on February 2016. Mr. Ali Y. Koç serves as Chairman of the Board of Koç Financial Services and Yapı Kredi Bank since 1 April 2016. Currently, Ali Y. Koç is the Chairman of Bilkom, Digital Panorama, Ford Otosan, Koçtaş, Otokar, Setur. In addition to being Chairman and Vice Chairman at Turkey’s biggest companies and financial institutions, Ali Y. Koç also contributes to country’s social and economic development and currently is the President of Fenerbahçe Sports Club and the Turkish Club Association. He is a Board Member at the National Competition Research Association (URAK), Board Member at ECA (European Club Association) and Endeavor Association, a member of the Global Advisory Council of Bank of America, Harvard University and Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a member of Panel of Senior Advisers at Chatham House and a member of Trade and Investment Council at the Confederation of British Industry.

Levent Çakıroğlu graduated from Ankara University - Faculty of Political Sciences, Business Administration Department and received his master’s degree from University of Illinois. He started his professional career at the Ministry of Finance in 1988. Between 1997-1998, he taught as part time instructor at Bilkent University and served as Vice President of Financial Crimes Investigation Board at the Ministry of Finance. Çakıroğlu joined Koç Group in 1998 as Koç Holding Financial Group Coordinator. He was the General Manager of Koçtaş between 2002-2007, CEO of Migros between 2007-2008, CEO of Arçelik between 2008-2015 and the President of the Durable Goods Group of Koç Holding A.Ş. between 2010-2015. Çakıroğlu was appointed as the Deputy CEO of Koç Holding in February 2015 and he took over the CEO position in April 2015. As of April 2016, Çakıroğlu is also a Board Member at Koç Holding. Çakıroğlu has been a Board Member at Yapı Kredi and Koç Financial Services since April 2015 and in February 2020, he was appointed as Vice Chairman of Yapı Kredi Board. Çakıroğlu is also a Board Member in various Koç Group Companies.

After graduating from İstanbul High school (İstanbul Erkek Lisesi), Gökhan Erün earned his undergraduate degree from İstanbul Technical University - Department of Electronics and Communications and graduate degree from Yeditepe University - Business Administration. Erün began his career at Garanti Bank Treasury Department in 1994. Between 1999-2004, Erün served as the Senior Vice President of Commercial Marketing and Sales Department. After becoming the CEO of Garanti Pension and Life in 2004, he was appointed as Executive Vice President of Garanti Bank in September 2005. Erün began to serve as the Deputy CEO of Garanti Bank in September 2015, also in charge of Corporate Banking, Treasury, Treasury Marketing and Financial Solutions, Derivatives, Cash Management and Transaction Banking, and Financial Institutions. At the same time, he was Board Chairman and Board Member in various local and international subsidiaries of Garanti Bank. As of January 2018, Erün has continued his career in Yapı Kredi as Executive Director in Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In addition, Erün is the CEO of Koç Financial Services and holds positions in the Boards of various Yapı Kredi Group subsidiaries, Koç Finansman A.Ş. and Allianz Yaşam ve Emeklilik A.Ş. Also as of April 2021, Erün became the President of Koç Holding’s Banking Group.

Ahmet F. Ashaboğlu holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Tufts University and a Master of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Mechanical Engineering. In 1994, he began his career as a Research Assistant at MIT. Between 1996-1999, Ashaboğlu held various positions in capital markets within UBS Warburg, New York. Between 1999-2003, he worked as a Consultant at McKinsey & Company, New York. In 2003, Ashaboğlu joined Koç Holding as Finance Group Coordinator. He served as the CFO of Koç Holding from 2006 to April 2022. In addition to being a Board Member at Yapı Kredi and Koç Financial Services since September 2005, Ashaboğlu is also a Board Member at various other public and non-public companies.

A. Ümit Taftalı earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Ball State University (Indiana) and his MBA degree from University of South Carolina. He also participated in senior executive programs at Harvard University. Taftalı is an investment banker and wealth manager with nearly 35 years of international experience. He has worked in executive positions in Atlanta, New York and London for Merrill Lynch & Company, Bankers Trust Company and Goldman Sachs International. Taftalı represented and advised Mrs. Suna (Koç) Kıraç between 2001-2020 was a Member of Koç Holding Executive Committee until April 2021. He currently manages the Koç family’s private investment office and is Chairman of Kare Portföy. Taftalı is or has been Board/Founding Member of various philanthropic and professional organizations such as Suna-İnan Kıraç Foundation, Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TESEV), Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association (TÜSİAD), Saint Joseph Educational Foundation, Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV), Galatasaray Sport Club, American Finance Association (USA), Financial Management Association (USA), Museum of American Financial History (USA), Ball State University Foundation (USA), Turkish Bankers Association (UK), University of South Carolina Foundation (USA). Taftalı has been a Board Member of Yapı Kredi and Koç Financial Services since April 2016.

Ahmet Çimenoğlu graduated from Department of Economics at Boğaziçi University in 1992. After completing his MA in Economics at Boğaziçi University, Çimenoğlu started his professional life as an economist at Yapı Kredi in 1995. He received his PhD degree in economics at Istanbul Technical University in 2002. He worked as the Chief Economist, and Head of Strategic Planning and Research at Yapı Kredi, respectively, between July 2004 and February 2009. In March 2009, he joined Koç Holding as the Head of Economic Research. He is currently the Chief Economist of the Koç Holding. Mr. Çimenoğlu has been servingn as a Board member at Koç Financial Services and Yapı Kredi since March 2019.

Virma Sökmen has a Bachelor degree in Finance from LaSalle University. Sökmen began her professional career at research and investment banking departments of Körfezbank and Çarşı Menkul Degerler. Between 1993-2001, Sökmen worked at Midland Bank A.S. as a Credit Analyst. Between 2001-2010, she served as Corporate Banking Group President and an Executive Vice President of Corporate and Commercial Banking at HSBC. Sökmen managed corporate banking, commercial banking foreign trade and provision management, factoring, corporate and commercial insurance, corporate marketing and cash management units since 2010. Sökmen also served as the Assistant General Manager, responsible from Corporate and Commercial Banking, at HSBC. In addition, Sökmen became an Independent Board at Sarkuysan Elektrolikit Bakır Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. in June 2020. Sökmen has been a Board Member of Yapı Kredi and Koç Financial Services since March 2019. Sökmen has been a Board Advisor of Hedef Filo Yönetimi.

Nevin İpek graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Business Administration in 1993. She received an MBA degree from the same university in 1997. İpek also earned a Master of Accounting degree from the University of Michigan in 2001. İpek began her career at the Capital Markets Board (CMB) of Turkey. At the CMB, she worked as Assistant to Expert between 1994-1997, Expert between 1997-2005, Deputy Head of Corporate Finance Department between 2005-2006 and Head of Institutional Investors Department between 2006-2007. She joined Koç Group in 2007 and is still working as Finance Coordinator responsible from Compliance to Securities Regulation. She is also heading the Capital Markets Working Group in TÜSİAD from 2013. Nevin İpek has been a Board Member of Yapı Kredi, Yapı Kredi Yatırım and Koç Financial Services since February 2020.

Kemal Uzun received his bachelor degree in Business Administration from Ankara University and his Master’s degree in Finance from the University of Illinois. In 1990, Uzun started his career as an Apprentice Public Account Inspector. He worked at the Ministry of Finance as Assistant Tax Auditor (1991-1994), Tax Auditor (1994-2002), Senior Tax Auditor (2002-2003) and Head of Department (2003-2005). Later, he functioned in Group Head (2005-2006) and Department Head (2006) positions at the Revenue Administration. Between 2006 and 2011, Uzun worked as Koç Holding’s Audit Group Coordination and from 2011 until 2021 as Tax Management Director. Uzun has been serving as the President of Koç Holding’s Audit Group since April 2021. He is also a member of the Boards of Directors of various Koç Group companies. In addition to these roles, he is a member of Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD), Tax Council and TURMEPA. Kemal Uzun has been a Board Member of Yapı Kredi and Koç Financial Services since April 2022.

Polat Şen, who was born in 1976 in Istanbul, received his bachelor’s degree from the English Department of Economics in Marmara University in 1998 and master’s degree from the International Finance Department in Bradford University in 1999. He completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 2016. Between 2005 and 2022, Şen served as Internal Audit , Purchasing Director , mergers and purchases of companies at Arçelik A.Ş. Polat Şen worked as Chief Financial Officer at Grundig Multimedia B.V. in Germany. Şen also worked as Arçelik A.Ş.'s Chief Financial Officer overseeing the company’s commercial operations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Şen was appointed the CFO of Koç Holding at 2022. Polat Şen has been a Board Member of Yapı Kredi and Koç Financial Services since April 2022.