Managing Board

Mehmet Tugal
Chairman of the Managing Board / CEO

Mehmet Tugal joined Akbank AG as Chairman of the Managing Board and Chief Executive Officer on March 6th, 2023.

Prior to joining Akbank TAS, he held a number of management positions in various private sector banks including BNP-Ak-Dresdner Bank. He has been an integral part of Akbank TAS since he started to work in the Corporate Branch at Akbank TAS in September 2005 and served as the Corporate Branch Manager and the Department Head in the Commercial Banking Business Unit, respectively. He worked as Akbank Commercial Banking Executive Vice President from 2017 to 2023. Along with his responsibilities in Akbank TAS, he was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ak Finansal Kiralama A.Ş., Vice Chairman of the Board of Ak Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş., and Member of the Board of Endeavor Turkey Active Entrepreneur Support Association.

Mehmet Tugal holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Bilkent University and an MBA from Central Michigan University. He attended various training programs including Harvard Business School and Euromoney.

Alper Özsoy
Member of the Managing Board / CSO

Alper Özsoy joined Akbank AG in March 2017 as Executive Vice President responsible from Corporate, Retail and Private Banking.

He started to his career in 1994 in a US brokerage company and joined Citibank Turkey in 1999 where he worked for more than 17 years. Mr. Özsoy has experience in Treasury, Cash Management and Corporate Banking. Prior joining Akbank AG in Frankfurt, he was heading Citi Turkey`s Global Subsidiaries Group based in Istanbul.

Mr. Özsoy has graduated in 1994 from Marmara University Engineering Faculty and holds a Master of Science degree in Finance from Koc University. He is member of the board of the Akbank AG in Frankfurt/Main since March 2018.

Albert Sowa
Member of the Managing Board / CRO

Albert Sowa joined Akbank AG as the member of the Managing Board & CRO on February 1st, 2023.

He started his career in 1985 at Deutsche Bank, where he worked for more than 25 years, then he worked for BHF Bank and Commerzbank in Frankfurt, before he joined Aquila Capital Group Hamburg in 2016. Albert held various senior management positions mostly in credit risk areas covering large and medium-sized Corporates in Europe and Germany, project and leveraged finance and Non-Bank Financial Institutions globally. At Aquila Capital, he was CEO and CRO of the Alternative Investment Fund Manager investing in large scale renewable, infrastructure and real estate projects and managing more than EUR 12bn in AUM for institutional investors.

Albert Sowa has a diploma in Banking from Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

Arzu Akbulut
Member of the Managing Board / CFO

Arzu Akbulut has been serving as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Akbank AG since 2023. She was appointed Member of the Management Board on April 15, 2026.

She brings over 18 years of professional experience in the financial services sector in Germany, characterized by extensive expertise in national and international accounting, auditing, and reporting requirements, as well as in banking regulation, internal control systems, and compliance.

Ms. Akbulut spent more than 14 years with PwC in Frankfurt, where she worked in Financial Services Audit in various roles up to senior management, including as an Authorized Signatory. In addition, she served at the national Auditor Oversight Body of the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA), where she supervised Big Four audit firms in their audits of banks and insurance companies.

She studied Business Administration and Economics at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg and graduated with a degree in Business Administration (DiplomKauffrau). Ms. Akbulut was certified as a German Public Accountant (Wirtschaftsprüferin) in 2014.