Tayfun Bayazit is appointed Chairman of Fortis Turkey, with Yvan De Cock succeeding him as CEO.
Bayazit will step down as CEO of Fortis Turkey on 8 May 2006 at the AGM. He succeeds Karel De Boeck as chairman.
Fortis says Bayazit has, since 1999, played an important role in building the bank’s position in Turkey. After the Turkish financial crises of 2000 and 2001, and subsequent restructuring of the financial sector, Disbank was transformed from a niche player with a few branches into a nationwide retail bank. This performance led to the bank’s acquisition by Fortis.
“Mr. Bayazit has accomplished a tremendous amount in a short period, turning Disbank into one of Turkey’s most modern and dynamic banks,” says de Boeck. “The smooth integration and re-branding into Fortis Bank was a great achievement and put Fortis on the Turkish map in record time.”
De Boeck, having seen through the integration process, will step down from the board. At the same time Jacob Westerlaken of Fortis Insurance International will be appointed a member of the Board.
Following the AGM Yvan De Cock will take up the position of CEO, after getting regulatory approval. De Coeck, 51, a Belgian citizen, holds Law and Business degrees from K.U.L. (Leuven) and EHSAL (Brussels) and has been CEO of Fortis Bank UK since 2002.
He joined Generale Bank, one of the constituents of Fortis in 1984 and has extensive experience within Fortis in areas such as export and project finance, commodities finance and corporate banking.
Yvan De Cock will be succeeded by Angus MacLennan as CEO of Fortis Bank UK. McLennan will also remain Head of Merchant Banking in the UK.