KazKommertsBank names new Chairman of Directors Board and Chairman of Management Board

The Board of Directors of KazKommertsBank (KKB), one of the largest banks of Kazakhstan, has held the meeting today. At the end, a new Chairman of the Board of Directors and a new Chairman of the Management Board were announced, Tengrinews reports.

Marc Holtzman, who recently joined the Board of Directors as an Independent Non-Executive Director, became the new Chairman of the Board of Directors. Following the appointment, the founder of the Bank Nurzhan Subkhanberdin left his position of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, albeit he remains to be the major shareholder.

Marc Holtzman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Lehigh University and has over 30 years of professional experience in economics and public administration. Between 1989 and 1998 he lived and worked in Eastern Europe and Russia. In recent years, he lived in Hong-Kong.

Holtzman held positions of Vice Chairman at Barclays Capital and ABN AMRO Bank. Mr. Holtzman was also a co-founder and President of MeesPierson EurAmerica, Senior Adviser to Salomon Brothers, and Chairman of Meridian Capital Hong Kong. Apart from this, he was the first Secretary of Technology in the Cabinet of the Governor of Colorado and President of the University of Denver.

Magzhan Auezov, who has served as the Managing Director of the KazKommertsBank, was named the new Chairman of the Management Board, replacing Nina Zhussupova, who held this office since 2002. Nina Zhussupova will still be a member of the Board of Directors.

Magzhan Auezov has been a member of the Management Board since 2002. 

He holds a Bachelor's degree in International Economics from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Almaty-based Al Farabi Kazakh National University (1996) as well as an MS degree in International Finance and Banking from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

Apart from that, Mr. Auezov is a graduate of ABN AMRO Banking Academy, Amsterdam, Netherlands. He completed an Executive Development Program at Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and a number of other executive programs in Finance and Strategy at the Wharton School and Harvard Business School.

“I am pleased that today KazKommertsBank is the largest financial institution in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. I am thankful to my colleagues in the Board of Directors and to the current personnel of the bank as well as to the former staff of KazKom for the support I have always felt,” Nurzhan Subkhanberdin is quoted as saying by the press service of the bank.

He wished Mr. Holtzman success in his new position. “Marc Holtzman has an experience of working in the countries with emerging markets and has been a pioneer in building Kazakhstan’s capital market. We believe his valuable experience and knowledge, which he gained while working as Vice President at Barclays Capital and ABN AMRO, will help maintaining KazKommertsBank’s corporate governance in line with the best international practices,” Mr. Subkhanberdin said.

Marc Holtzman, in turn, praised the job Nurzhan Subkhanberdin made in building the bank. “I am deeply moved by the trust of Nurzhan Subkhanberdin. His name is inseparably associated with KazKommertsBank and the emergence of the entire generation of young entrepreneurs in independent Kazakhstan. He managed not only to create and achieve success in the banking business, but also set an example of determination and desire for improvement. The bank will remain to be his brainchild and we will always be happy to feel his involvement in the work as a shareholder," he said.

When speaking about Nina Zhussupova, who had been managing the bank for more than 12 years, he said he was impressed by her "professionalism and bravery". "I am glad she will now focus on the work of the Board of Directors. Her experience and perfect knowledge of the banking sector will be very necessary in addressing the strategic goals the bank has,” he added.

Besides, experience and continuity were the most important criteria when selecting the new Chairman of the Management Board, Mr. Holtzman said.

“Mr. Auezov has grown professionally in the team of KazKommertsBank focusing on the most difficult areas of work. The process of merging with BTA bank was a serious test for him, which he and his colleagues had been successfully accomplishing,” he noted.

The Board of Directors decided to hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in May 2015 to consider election of a new Board member, since Magzhan Auezov is expected to join the Board of Directors.

By Assel Satubaldina (Alisher Akhmetov contributed to the story)