Board of Directors

Tamer Ghazaleh

Tamer Ghazaleh holds a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from the University of Jordan (1998) and is a graduate of the Executive Management Program at the Harvard Business School (2009) and Advanced Management Program (AMP) at the Harvard Business School in 2019.

Tamer Ghazaleh joined Bank Audi Group in 2004 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Jordan Branches, in charge of the Finance and Administration Departments there. In March 2006, Mr. Tamer Ghazaleh moved to Bank Audi sae (EGYPT) where he became assistant General Manager and CFO, bringing a significant contribution to the expansion of the bank’s activities in Egypt and to the establishment of its strong financial pillars, and then to Deputy Group CFO at Head Office in Beirut in June 2014, and to Group CFO in March 2015, and in July 2020 was promoted to Deputy Group CEO.

Throughout his career at Bank Audi Group, Tamer Ghazaleh was a key contributor to the development and adaptation of the Bank's financial management to its complex needs and expansion plans, mobilizing adequate human resources for financial management and making use of advanced integrated information technology to align the Bank to international best practice in financial management and reporting, and to abide by the evolving International Financial Reporting Standards. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of several affiliates of Bank Audi, and Co-Chair of the Group Executive Committee of the bank, whose mission is to assist the Group CEO in the strategic and day-to-day running of the Bank.

Prior to joining Bank Audi Group, Tamer Ghazaleh occupied several positions in international companies, as he worked for three years with Deloitte and Touch M.E. Jordan and UAE. In 2001, he joined the Standard Chartered Bank in Jordan to become the CFO in 2002 and a member of the Executive, Risk, and ALCO committees until 2004. Having acted as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of Odeabank as of November 2020, he was appointed as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Odeabank as of August 2023.

Khalil El Debs

Khalil Debs currently acts as the Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer of Bank Audi s.a.l. He is in charge of Corporate & Commercial Banking, Capital Markets & Treasury, SME, Retail Banking, Energy & Infrastructure Finance, Operations, Private Banking, Private Equity and the International Division. In his role, he oversees the development and implementation of the business strategies and policies of the bank across these business lines.

He also serves as Chair of Bank Audi LLC (Qatar) and is member of the Board of Directors of Bank Audi France sa and Bank Audi (Suisse) SA.

When he joined Bank Audi in 1995, Khalil Debs played a key role in the development of the corporate and commercial lending activities of the bank in Lebanon, and he actively contributed to the regional expansion activities on which Bank Audi embarked since 2004. He previously acted as Group Head of Corporate Banking overseeing the corporate and commercial lending activities of the bank's entities in all countries of operation, in addition to his role as a member of their respective credit committees. In 2008, he established and successfully launched the Group's syndication and project finance division. He also led a number of key transactions in the MENA region.

Khalil Debs holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Lebanese American University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) since 2001. Mr. Debs was appointed as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of Odeabank as of August 2023.

Mouayed Makhlouf

Mouayed Makhlouf is a member of the Board of Directors of Odeabank since October 2019. Mouayed Makhlouf holds a Master of Science degree in Finance from George Washington University in Washington, DC. Mouayed Makhlouf joined Bank Audi Group in August 2019 as a General Manager and a member of the Group Executive Committee of Bank Audi sal with a primary focus on the regional corporate business as well as the various special initiatives within the Group.

Prior to joining Bank Audi Group, Mouayed Makhlouf was the Regional Director of the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group. He was responsible for IFC's investments and advisory programs in more than 20 countries in MENA, with over 250 staff across 14 offices. During his tenor as a Regional Director of MENA, IFC's work in the region witnessed a considerable effort in creating the space for stronger private sector contribution in the development of the regional economies, through both participating in direct investments as well as focusing on the upstream work with the relevant authorities and governments.

Prior to that, Mr. Makhlouf was a Manager in the Financial Institutions Group responsible for IFC's investments in all the financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa region based in Dubai, UAE. Mr. Makhlouf joined IFC in Washington DC in 1998. During his career at IFC, he then relocated to several major offices across many regions and covered a large number of markets including Central Asia, MENA, Turkey, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Antoine​ Najm

Antoine Najm holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration (Finance) from HEC Montreal (1993) and received his undergraduate degree and high school diploma in Canada.

He serves as Group Credit Head at Bank Audi sal since May 2015, in charge of the Group Credit division constituted of (i) Group Corporate Credit Management department, comprising Regional credit approvals and reviews, Group Credit Admin & MIS, (ii) Corporate Credit Risk-Lebanon department. He manages the Group Corporate Credit Portfolio, with responsibilities encompassing the entire process, from independent credit approval to portfolio reviews. He initiated and managed the de-risking strategy of the Group loan portfolio in early 2017 (ongoing) and acts as an independent credit approval authority across the Group for all credits above entities' local limits.

He is a member of the Group Executive Committee as well as IFRS9 steering committees across entities, including validation of staging and migration, permanent invitee of the Risk Committees of the Board and is a key member in remedial management forums.

Antoine Najm joined Bank Audi Group in May 2005 as Head of Credit Risk Review. Before joining Bank Audi Group, he worked for eleven years with Bank Saradar where he occupied several positions including the position of Head of Credit Department from January 2000 until April 2005. He was been appointed as a Board Member and member of the Credit Committee of Odea Bank A.Ş. as of January 2020.

Dr. Ayşe Botan Berker

Dr. Botan Berker completed her secondary education at TED Ankara and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Middle East Technical University, a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Delaware (USA), and a Ph.D. in Banking & Finance from Marmara University.

Beginning her professional career at the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey as a specialist in external debt, Dr. Berker then worked on various assignments such as loans provided within the body of the World Bank and OECD Consortium to Aid Turkey. Serving as an assistant manager in the Department of Balance of Payments, she then worked as Manager in the Department of International Institutions in charge of borrowing from foreign markets at the Central Bank. Between 1994-1996, Dr. Berker worked as London Representative of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. Before leaving the Central Bank in January 1999, she served as External Affairs Assistant General Manager. She then opened the Turkey office of Fitch International Credit Rating Company, where she worked as Turkey General Manager and Board Member until March 2012. Dr. Berker founded Merit Risk Management and Consultancy Services company in April 2012. She served as the independent board member and chairperson of the Risk Committee of Turcas Petrol A.Ş. between 2012 and 2018, and is currently serving as an independent Board Member of İş Leasing A.Ş.

Dr. Botan Berker, who is a member of the Board of Trustees of Turkish Education Foundation was appointed as a Board Member of Odea Bank A.Ş. as of October 2020.

Dr. Farid Lahoud

Farid Lahoud is a member of the Board of Directors of Odeabank since December 2020.

He joined Bank Audi, Lebanon, in 1991, moving from a leading London-based discount house. Throughout his career at Bank Audi, he played a senior role in corporate, structured, and project finance and led the origination and structuring of debt programs, bank capital instruments, hybrid equity issuance and asset-backed securities programs.

He was appointed in 2006 as Corporate Secretary of the Bank Audi Group in 2006 and as Group Chief Compliance Officer in 2020. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of several affiliates.

He currently serves also as a member of the Oversight Advisory Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and has served, from 2013 until 2016, as a member (Chair from 2014 onwards) of the Oversight Advisory Committee of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).

Farid Lahoud holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from ESA Business School in Lebanon, in association with Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the City University of London. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the American University of Beirut

Chahdan Jebeyli

Me. Chahdan Jebeyli is a member of the Board of Directors of Odeabank since June 2021. In his capacity as Bank Audi Group Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, Me. Chahdan Jebeyli oversees Legal & Compliance affairs of the Group. He is member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Audit Committee at Audi Capital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mr. Jebeyli is also Chair of the Compliance Officers Committee of the Association of Banks in Lebanon, and a lecturer at the Judiciary Studies Institute in Lebanon. He joined Bank Audi in 2007 from Citibank where he acted as Managing Director for the legal and compliance affairs in the Middle East and North Africa region. Before Citibank, he practiced in a law firm in the USA with a focus on commercial and banking matters.

Me. Chahdan Jebeyli is a former Lebanese Judge, he holds a LLM in International Banking Law Studies from the Boston University and is admitted to New York and American Bar Associations.

Oya Aydınlık

Oya Aydınlık has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from University of Maryland. She started her career as an Auditor in Arthur Andersen. Then she joined Societe Generale as Internal Auditor and she acted as an Assistant General Manager between 1991 and 1996. For a while, Oya Aydınlık worked in London to establish JPM's İstanbul Branch, she then moved to Turkey as Vice President and Management Board Member for JPMC Turkey. She was also a Management Board Member of JPM Menkul Degerler AS. Brokerage company transacting in equities, futures, and options.

In 2011, she joined Credit Agricole Turkey as an Independent Board Member and continued as Chair of Audit Committee. Then, she continued her career as a Board Member of Standard Chartered Investment Bank after the banking license was acquired by the Organization and she held this position until 2020.

She has been an Independent Board Member and Chair of Audit Committee of Odea Bank A.Ş. since June 2021

Ebru Oğan Knottnerus

Ebru Oğan, who started her banking career in 1991, continued with roles at various private sector banks and organizations as manager and senior manager in the fields of internal audit, internal control, financial planning, various system software implementations and project management, predominantly focused on risk management.

She administered risk management activities of the bank and its subsidiaries as Risk Management President at T. Garanti Bankası A.Ş. between 2001 and 2018. She was a Board Member of Risk Managers' Association, which she was a founding member of since 2002 and she also acted as the Chair of the Association between 2008 and 2014.

Mrs. Knottnerus has been serving as an Independent Board Member of PASHA Yatırım Bankası A.Ş. and Board Member of PASHA Bank Georgia since 2018.

She has been an Independent Board Member of Odea Bank A.Ş. since July 2021. She has 30 years of experience in banking and business administration.

Hilmi Güvenal

Mr. Hilmi Güvenal graduated from Boğaziçi University Department of Industrial Engineering in 1985. He then completed Program for Management Development ("PMD") at Harvard Business School in 1993.

Mr. Güvenal has assumed a number of top executive roles besides serving as board and committee member across various companies of the Tekfen Holding for 15 years. In 2002, he established Reform Kurumsal together with his partners, whereby the company operates in consultancy sector. Between 2009 and 2019, Mr. Güvenal served as the CEO of Hayat Varlık Yönetim A.Ş. – an asset management company.

He is currently serving as member of the Board in Dünya Varlık Yönetim A.Ş. and Vice-Chair in Tam Finans Faktoring A.Ş..

Elias Abou Sleiman

Elias Abou Sleiman holds a Master of Science degree in Comparative Government from the faculty of economics at the London School of Economics in London. He also holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Beirut in Political Science and Public Administration.

Elias Abou Sleiman joined Bank Audi Group in 2009 as Group Head of Counterparty Credit Risk in the bank's risk department in Lebanon. Elias Abou Sleiman had previously worked for 16 years in various banking jobs in London latterly holding the positions of Senior Risk Officer – VP at ABN-AMRO Bank and later at RBS focusing on Derivatives and Trading Credit Risk. Elias Abou Sleiman was promoted to the position of Group Chief Risk Officer of Bank Audi in June 2018 and continues in this role to date. Elias Abou Sleiman is member of Bank Audi Group Executive Committee and sits on the Bank's ALCO and IFRS 9 committees. He is currently a board member of Bank Audi LLC (Qatar). As of September 2023, Mr. Abou Sleiman has been appointed as a Board Member of Odeabank A.Ş.

Dr. Mert Öncü

Dr. Mert Oncu completed his bachelor's degree in İstanbul Technical University, Electronics and Telecommunications Department in 1992. He received his MBA degree majoring in Finance from DePaul University, where he worked as a graduate assistant and he also served as an intern in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange between 1992-1994.

In 2001, he received Ph.D. degree from Marmara University Banking and Insurance Institute. He completed the Advanced Management Program of Harvard Business School in 2017. Starting his banking carrier in Kocbank's Treasury Department in 1994, Dr. Oncu witnessed merger of Kocbank with Yapı Kredi Bank in 2006. Following the merger, Dr. Oncu took various executive responsibilities in Treasury. He served as a board member and vice-chairman of the Board in İzmir Futures and Options Exchange until its merger with Borsa Istanbul.

Between May 2011 and March 2018, Dr. Oncu worked as Assistant General Manager responsible for Treasury and Financial Institutions and a member of Executive Committee at Yapı Kredi Bank and served as a Board Member at Yapı Kredi Yatırım in 2018. On April 2, 2018, Dr. Oncu was appointed as the CEO and Board Member at Odeabank.