Alper Hakan Yüksel graduated from the Department of Industrial Engineering at Middle East Technical University (METU), Türkiye, in 1991. He further strengthened his academic background by obtaining an MBA from Işık University, Türkiye, in 2015. In addition, he completed a Leadership Program of Harvard Business School – John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2010.
Yüksel began his banking career in 1991 at Interbank Türkiye. Following the completion of the bank’s Management Trainee Program, he served as an Account Manager between 1991 and 1993, managing a portfolio of corporate banking clients.
In 1993, he joined Citibank Türkiye as a Relationship Manager, a position he held until 2000. During this period, he was responsible for managing relationships with major corporate customers and developing banking solutions tailored to their financial needs.
Between 2000 and 2002, Yüksel served as Head of Corporate Banking at Citibank Bulgaria, when Citibank was setting up in Bulgaria and where he was responsible for establishing and managing Citibank’s corporate banking business in the Bulgarian market. After his return to Türkiye, he subsequently held the position of Corporate Finance Senior Transactor at Citibank Türkiye between 2002 and 2004, leading the origination and execution of landmark corporate finance transactions.
From 2004 to 2008, he served as Head of Corporate Banking at Citibank Türkiye, overseeing the bank’s corporate client portfolio and expanding its corporate banking activities. In 2008, he joined Barclays Bank UAE as GCC Head of Commercial Banking, where he was responsible for corporate, financial institution, and SME banking activities across the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, a role he held until 2011.
Yüksel returned to Türkiye to serve as Head of Corporate and Investment Banking at Akbank Türkiye from 2011 to 2015. In this role, he was responsible for Akbank’s corporate and investment banking businesses, including board roles and the oversight of the bank’s foreign subsidiaries in Germany and the United Arab Emirates.
In 2015, he joined ING Bank Türkiye as Country Head of Wholesale Banking, overseeing the bank’s corporate and financial institutions business, as well as cash management, trade finance, and treasury products. He held this position until 2020.
From March 2020 to June 2024, Yüksel served as EMEA Head of Network Banking at ING Germany, where he was responsible for managing multinational companies’ subsidiary banking business across 21 countries in Europe and the United Arab Emirates.
Throughout his more than three decades of banking experience, Yüksel has gained extensive expertise in corporate banking, investment banking, international banking, trade finance, treasury products, multinational client management, risk management and strategic leadership. His career has included senior executive responsibilities across Türkiye, Bulgaria, the United Arab Emirates, and Germany, providing him with substantial international banking and governance experience.
As of March 2025, Alper Hakan Yüksel completed his assignments at ING Germany and continues to bring over 30 years of international banking experience to board-level and strategic advisory roles within the financial services sector.
