İşbank names Cahit Çınar chief executive as Hakan Aran moves to Şişecam

Cahit Çınar took over as chief executive of Türkiye İş Bankası on 1 September, the bank's board page shows. He succeeds Hakan Aran, who has become chairman of the glass and chemicals maker Şişecam, a 7 August press release said.

What the bank said

The release said the changes followed a board resolution and were intended to improve the group's competitiveness and efficiency across banking, finance and industry. It said Çınar, then deputy chief executive, would be appointed chief executive effective 1 September, subject to the required notifications to, and approvals from, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.

The release credited Aran, who had run the bank since 2021, with leading transformation and investment at the bank in areas including next-generation subsidiaries, the branch network, platform banking and artificial intelligence. It described Şişecam as one of the world's five largest glass and chemicals manufacturers, with production operations in 13 countries.

The investor relations page lists Çınar as a member of the board and chief executive officer and says he was appointed the 18th general manager of the bank on 1 September 2026. It does not mention the regulatory approvals that the release made a condition of the appointment.

Adnan Bali, who has chaired the board since 2021, continues in that role, the release said. The board page says he was elected to the board on 31 March 2026 and re-elected chairman on 1 April 2026.

A career inside the group

The release describes Çınar as having a 35-year banking career, 25 years of it in executive roles. He joined İşbank in 1991 as an assistant specialist in the economic research division, became chief executive of Germany-based İşbank AG in 2016 and deputy chief executive of the bank in 2018. He then led the group company Trakya Yatırım Holding before returning to the bank as deputy chief executive in May 2025, according to the release. In that role he was responsible for subsidiaries, project finance, corporate, commercial and retail credit allocation, legal affairs, tax, and construction and real estate management.

The release also lists his continuing directorships. He chairs the boards of İş Gayrimenkul Yatırım Ortaklığı, İş Enerji Yatırımları, Is Energy Investments B.V. and Maxi Digital GmbH, and is vice chairman of Türkiye Şişe ve Cam Fabrikaları (Şişecam), Trakya Yatırım Holding and Polat Enerji Yatırımları. Because Aran now chairs Şişecam, he and Çınar sit on the same board. The board page carries a different list of group roles, including the chairmanship of İşbank AG.

The board and the owners

The board page lists 11 directors. Six of them, Enis Belge, Recep Bildik, Hamide Esma Uygun Çelikten, Baki İlkay Engin, Banu Öztuna and Gülbin Şahinbeyoğlu, give 31 March 2026 as the date of their election. Engin is described as an independent member. A footnote says that, under the Communiqué on Corporate Governance (II-17.1) published on 3 January 2014, audit committee members of banks are regarded as independent members. Bahattin Özarslantürk, the vice chairman, chairs the audit committee, and Şebnem Aydın and Çelikten are listed as members.

Çınar chairs the board's credit committee, human resources committee, information systems strategy committee and information security committee, and sits on the risk and operational risk committees, the board page says. Bali chairs the remuneration, risk and sustainability committees.

Bali also chairs the İşbank Members Supplementary Pension Fund, the board page says. The bank's ownership page, dated June 2026, lists the İşbank Pension Fund, which acts for active and retired employees, as its largest shareholder with 38.66 per cent. Free float stands at 33.25 per cent, about 32 per cent of which is held by foreign investors, and Atatürk shares account for 28.09 per cent. The bank says the Atatürk shares are represented by the Republican People's Party under Atatürk's will.