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Board of Directors

Bank are pursuant to the provisions of the size of Board of Directors and the qualifications of Board members in the Banking Law (Law No. 5411), Corporate Governance Communique (II-17.7), Turkish Commercial Code (Law No. 6102), Capital Markets Law ( Law No. 6362).

According to Article 23 in the Banking Law numbered 5411, the board of directors of any bank shall have at least five members including the general manager. The general manager of the bank and, in his absence, his deputy shall be a natural member of the board of directors. The qualifications required for the general manager in this Law shall also be required for majority of the board of directors. Managing directors shall satisfy the same conditions as the general manager. The persons elected as board of directors’ members or the persons appointed as board of directors’ members for vacated position shall be informed to the Agency, together with documents indicating that they bear the requirements laid down in this article, within seven working days.

The bank's succession plan for unforeseen circumstances related to board members is as follows:

According to the Management Internal Directive published in the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette numbered 9841 dated May 31, 2019, the board of directors is represented by the joint signatures of either the chairman of the board of directors or one of the board members together with the general manager or one of the executive vice presidents.

Furthermore, the authorized signatories of the bank are divided into three groups as follows: the first group includes the general manager, executive vice presidents, and chief legal advisor, the second group includes first-degree signatories, and the third group includes second-degree signatories. Any two signatures from the first group or one signature from the first group together with one signature from the second group, collectively placing their signature, are authorized to commit the Bank in all matters.

The Board of Directors consists of nine members. Three members of Group (A) and one member of Group (B) and two members of Group (C) are selected among the candidates proposed by the majority of their group and one member among candidates proposed by the shareholders by taking into account the preferences of Group (D) primarily and two other members shall be elected by the General Assembly among the candidates proposed by shareholders. Two members of Group (A) and (C) and one member who is elected by the preferences of Group (D) are independent members. Please find below the current members of the Board of Directors and their biographies.

Board of Directors and Statutory Auditors

Mr. Saydam (born in Ağrı in 1966) graduated from Gazi University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration in 1990. He began his career as assistant auditor at VakıfBank in 1993. After working as Auditor between 1996 and 1999, he took the responsibilities of assistant manager and manager in various branches and departments of VakıfBank. He served as the Head of Human Resources between 2005 and 2010 and Audit Board between 2010 and 2013. Mr. Saydam was appointed as Executive Vice President in October 2013 and carried out this duty until January 2019. Having served as Executive Vice President in Türkiye Hayat ve Emeklilik A.Ş. and Board member in Vakıf Pazarlama from June 2020 until March 2021, Mr. Saydam was elected as a Board member of VakıfBank at the 67th General Assembly Meeting dated 26 March 2021 and at the same day he was also selected as the Chairperson of the Board. Mr. Saydam is married and has two children. He is fluent in English.

Dr. Ertem (born 1959) graduated from Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Economics. He has a master's degree and Ph.D. in finance and economics at Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics. He was a lecturer at Istanbul University and THK University on knowledge economy, economics-politics, alternative growth and money theory. Dr. Ertem wrote many articles on economics-politics, economy and monetary policies. Moreover, he has been a TV commentator about economics and a columnist in various magazines and newspapers.

Dr.Ertem received the ‘MUSIAD Best Economy Writer’ award in 2011. He has written four books, called ‘Bitişler ve Başlangıçlar’, ‘Yeni Dünya Düzeni-Wiki Leaks’, ‘Dünyayı Sarsan 60 Gün’ and ‘Yatağını Bulan Nehir (Erdoğan Dönemi Ekonomi Politiği)’. Dr. Ertem is still the Chief Economic Advisor of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and member of Economic Policies Council. He was elected as a Board Member at VakıfBank on August 13, 2018. Dr. Ertem has been Deputy Chairperson since the Board meeting held on June 12, 2020.

Abdi Serdar ÜSTÜNSALİH, born in 1963 in Trabzon, has bachelor's degrees in Business Administration and Physics, as well as master's degrees in Public Administration and Information Systems. Prior to be assigned as the CEO and Executive Board Member of the Bank on May 27, 2019, Mr. ÜSTÜNSALİH held the positions of Manager, Head and Executive Vice President responsible for various departments at VakıfBank. In addition to serving as a Board Member of TSKB and as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Banking Association, he actively engages in numerous charitable foundations and associations. Mr. ÜSTÜNSALİH is married and has two children.

Born in 1944 in Diyarbakır, Mr. Aksu completed his primary education in Diyarbakır Cumhuriyet Primary School, and his secondary education in Ziya Gökalp High School. He graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Science. Following his graduation, he began his working life as an Intern District Governor in Diyarbakır. Mr. Aksu served as District Governor of Ergani, Bismil, Genç, Akçadağ and Doğanşehir. In 1970, he was appointed as the District Governor of Kınık and following his military service, he held the positions of Yozgat Sarıkaya District Governor, Malatya Police Chief, Kahramanmaraş Acting Governor, Central Police Chief and Chief Police Officer between 1973 and 1980. He was appointed as Rize Governor on August 29th 1980. During his governor position in Rize, he also acted as Rize Mayor for a short period. He became Gaziantep Governor between the years of 1984 and 1987. Mr. Aksu was also elected as "The Bureaucrat of the Year” for more than ten times.

He was elected as 18th term Diyarbakir MP from Mainland Party on November 29th, 1987. He was also appointed as his party's group deputy chairman in Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) in December 1987. He was appointed as Interior Minister for the 43rd Cabinet and carried out this role until June 23rd, 1991. He was re-elected as Diyarbakir MP from Mainland Party on December 24th, 1995 and acted as his party's group deputy chairman in TGNA and assigned to the State Minister position responsible for South East Anatolia Project in the 53rd Cabinet. He left Mainland Party and joined to Welfare Party on August 16th, 1996. He became a member of General Administrative Board and Vice President of Welfare Party. Following the closing of Welfare Party by Constitutional Court, he joined to the Virtue Party. Mr. Aksu was one of the founding members of Justice and Development Party and he was elected as MP from Istanbul 3rd Region on November 3, 2002. He served as Interior Minister during 58th and 59th Cabinets, acted as State Minister between 2009 and 2012.

He was elected as Board member at the 65th Ordinary General Assembly Meeting of VakıfBank, held on May 27th, 2019 and carried out this duty until March 2021. Mr. Aksu was elected as Independent Board member at the 67th General Assembly meeting. Mr. Aksu is fluent in German, married with two children and 4 grandchildren.

Please click here to see the Independence Statement.

Dr. Ertem (born in 1965) completed his secondary education in Erzurum. He graduated from İstanbul University, Faculty of Political Sciences and Department of Public Administration in 1987 and got his Ph.D. in the field of sociology in 1997. Beginning his career as an Assistant Auditor at the General Directorate of Foundations in 1988, Dr. Ertem was appointed as Auditor in 1991 and Chief Auditor in 2002. Between 2002 and 2007, he served as the Regional Director at the İstanbul Regional Directorate of Foundations. Between 2007 and 2010, he held the position of Deputy Undersecretary of the Turkish Prime Ministry, following this position, he served as the General Manager of the General Directorate of Foundations between 14 October 2010 and 26 December 2019. Dr. Ertem was appointed as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services in December 2019. Since October 27, 2010, he has been a Board member of VakıfBank. Dr. Ertem is also a member of Remuneration Committee and an alternate member of Credit Committee. He is married and has two children.

Mr. Uğur (born 1957) completed his primary and secondary education in Malatya and Erzurum. He graduated from Atatürk University, Faculty of Economics, and Business Administration Department in 1979. He began working at VakıfBank in 1984 and served as Assistant Manager, Manager and Head until 2004 and thereafter he held the position of Executive Vice President between 2004 and 2013. Following that, Mr. Uğur served as a Board Member at VakıfBank International AG Vienna, Güneş Sigorta , Taksim Otelcilik, Atakule GYO A.Ş., Vakıf Menkul Kıymetler A.Ş., Vakıf GYO A.Ş. which are subsidiaries of the Bank. He has been a Board member of VakıfBank since June 9, 2017 and he is also a member of Credit Committee.

Halil Çelik, who was born in 1956 in Akçaabat/Trabzon, completed his primary, secondary, and high school education in Akçaabat and graduated from the Economics Department of the Eskişehir Academy of Economic and Commercial Sciences in 1980. He started his career at Ziraat Bankası in 1982 as an Assistant Auditor, later serving as Auditor and Chief Auditor. He held the position of regional manager in Trabzon from 1995 to 1999 and in Erzurum from 1999 to 2002 at the same bank. Between 2002 and 2003, he worked as an Auditor at İller Bankası, and he continued his career as Executive Vice President at Halkbank and a board member at Halk Yatırım from 2003 to 2010. Between 2010 and 2012, Mr. Çelik held Board Member positions at Ziraat Bankası, Ziraat Leasing, Azer Türk Bank, Türkmen Turkish Bank, and Ziraat Sigorta. He served as Deputy Chairperson of the Board at Vakıf Finansal Kiralama from 2019 to 2024. Mr. Çelik was elected as an Independent Board Member at the 70th Ordinary General Assembly of VakıfBank held on 6 June 2024.

Please click here to see the Independence Statement.

Haydar Kemal Kurt, who was born in 1963 in Isparta, graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1984. He worked as a freelance lawyer from 1986 to 2007. He served as a Member of Parliament in Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Güngören Municipality and as the Chairperson of the Law Commission of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality from 2004 to 2007. In 2007, he was elected as the 23rd Term Isparta Deputy in Grand National Assembly of Turkey and worked as a member of the Constitution Commission. Haydar Kemal Kurt was elected as an Independent Member of the Board of Directors at the VakıfBank Ordinary General Assembly held on March 25, 2022. Mr. Kurt is married and has three children.

Please click here to see the Independence Statement.

Mr. Yakut was born in Kayseri on February 3rd, 1956. He was graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Law. In the years from 1979 to 1999, he served as public prosecutor, investigation judge at Ministry of Justice general directorate of prisons and detention houses in Halfeti, Çamardı, Savaştepe and Giresun in sequence which is followed by Ankara public prosecutor position. Mr. Yakut was elected as Kayseri MP of Nationalist Movement Party in 1999. He served as a Board member of his party and Constitutional Committee. He also became a Board member in Gençlerbirliği Sport Club. Mr. Yakut became one of the founding members of Justice and Development Party. During the years of 1999 to 2015, he was elected as MP from Kayseri district for the 22nd, 23rd and 24th terms and served as Vice Chairman of Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA). Mr. Yakut was elected as a Board member of VakıfBank on May 27, 2019 and he is also a member of Corporate Governance Committee and the Remuneration Committee. Mr. Yakut is married and has three children.

Having graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences and Department of Public Administration, Mr. Mehmet Emin Baysa had his master’s degree on Public Administration and had a training of National Security Academy. Beginning public service as a District Governor candidate in the Ministry of Interior on May 29, 2000, Mr. Baysa held the position of Assistant Auditor in Customs Audit Board and since August 2001, he served as Assistant Auditor, Auditor, Chief Auditor and Vice President in the Prime Ministry Audit Board. Mr. Baysa served as the Head of Foreign Affairs and Vice President of the Audit Board in the Office of the Prime Minister. He was appointed as a member of the State Supervisory Council on August 3, 2018 and still carries out this duty. Mr. Baysa was elected as a member of VakıfBank’s Audit Board on June 12, 2020.

Born in Kızılcahamam/Ankara in 1963, Mr. Türe graduated from Anadolu University, Business Management Department. He began his working life as an Intern Officer at VakıfBank in 1990. He served as the Manager of Vezirköprü Branch / Samsun, Kırşehir Branch, Manager and Board member of VakıfBank Private Pension Fund and also Board member at the subsidiaries of VakıfBank, respectively. Mr. Türe retired from VakıfBank as of February 28, 2014. He still serves as a Board member of Yenimahalle/Ankara Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundation and also various civil society organizations operating in Ankara. Mr. Türe was elected as a member of the Audit Board at the Ordinary General Assembly of VakıfBank held on June 9, 2017. He is married and has 2 children.

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