Stock Exchange gets new president

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The new IMKB head Turhan (L) poses with his predecessor Erkan (R) and Capital Markets Board head Vedat Akgiray. AA photo

İbrahin Turhan was welcomed in as the new president of the Istanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB) yesterday, taking the reins from former president Hüseyin Erkan.

Speaking at his swearing in ceremony, Turhan said he envisioned the İMKB would become a private company and later taking part in an initial public offering. He said by 2015, the stock exchange’s capitalization should be one trillion Turkish Liras, Reuters reported.

“By the end of 2015, we plan to make Istanbul a place where one can buy and sell financial instruments in line with international standards,” said Turhan. He warned this may not happen overnight, but the plan should be “to instill the necessary infrastructure to make it happen.”

Dr. İbrahim Turhan was born in 1968 in İzmir. He graduated from Galatasaray high school in Istanbul in 1987 and went on to study economics and management at Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University. In 2001, Turhan became part of the faculty at Istanbul’s Yeditepe University. At Yeditepe he became president of the Banking and Insurance department as well as the International Trade and Business Department.

 Until 2004 he taught part-time at Beykent University’s Economics and Management faculties. In April 2004 he was appointed as a member of the Turkish Central Bank’s board. In June 2006 he became a member of the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee and in May 2008 he became Vice President of the Committee.