James Gillespie took Mr Acuner into the hot seat this week to grill him about the opportunities in banking, the TBA and to learn a little bit more about the man himself.

  Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I have been in the UK now for 12 years and have been working for the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) for the last 9 year of this time.

I am originally from Turkey where I grew up and studied at the Bosphorus University in Istanbul at the Business Administration Department. I later moved on to study at the University of Stockholm, Sweden in a graduate Economics programme & started working for the Central Bank of Turkey. After a couple of years, I decided to do an MBA in Canada at Concordia University, and on completion I joined the Bank of Montreal (BofM). I worked there for two years before I moved to the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). My work with RBC has meant for me to spend some of my career in Amsterdam, Holland and Milan, Italy and eventually in London where I worked for 3 & a half years as the country Director for the Netherlands, Italy & Greece within the corporate banking area of the bank. In 1996, I moved to EBRD which is an international financial institution owned by over sixty countries, including Turkey. It was established in 1991 to assist the transition of former communist command countries to market driven economies. The Bank is continuing to carry out what it has set out to achieve and is now increasingly focusing on South-eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia.

  You have spent your career in banking, is this something you've always wanted to follow?

It was a choice when I was first finishing university that I didn't think I was going to take, I had not much interest in banking at the time, but I became quite interested in finance after my MBA programme. The BofM was offering a management development programme for young bankers which in North America represented a more dynamic opportunity than what I had previously seen in the banking sector in Turkey. You have to remember, that at around that time things with banking were changing dramatically and a banking career started to have a completely different image from what it had previously.

All these things led me to start my career as a finance specialist. It has been an exciting career, doing different things and interacting with many people, clients & businesses. Quite often you can see the immediate results of the financing you provide for projects and this has been a good, rewarding career for me so far.

  So what are you doing now at EBRD?

I am the portfolio manager for the Agri-business team which has 25-26 bankers/account managers working on their own projects. We have exposures to a wide variety of companies. What I make sure is, in terms of risk profile, these risk exposures are closely monitored and do not deteriorate; I determine the appropriate measures to be taken to contain these risks.

I also overlook our entry into new investments, to ensure the structure & terms and conditions are consistent with the risk profile we are prepared to tolerate and with the Bank's objectives before they can proceed. Sometimes, I sit as a member of the Board of Directors of companies where we have equity investments. I try to make sure our equity positions are profitable, secure and as set out in terms of what the bank wants to achieve.

  You are currently the Chairman for the Turkish Bankers Association, how did you get involved?

Well, a dear friend of mine, Mr.Izzet Suner contacted me and told me that he, with some banker friends had set up this association and that since I had arrived in London would I like to join, which I did.

  You were one of the founding members?

No, I was the next immediate generation from them, getting involved actively and helping with TBA's expansion. In the last three years, I have been asked to lead its executive team; we are a team, we all assume different titles, roles , but we are a team that works cohesively together.

  Do you think studying is essential to getting into a large organisation and having a successful career?

Absolutely. And the more specialised studies that you undertake, the better chances that you have. If you have had a project for example working on derivatives or in foreign exchange, it will demonstrate your knowledge and interest in these areas and would look rather attractive to potential employers.

  How do you think it is possible for Turks to integrate into the UK society but also not to lose their self identity? What do you think of the current Turkish community in the UK?

Becoming part of a society but at the same time maintaining your identity is a very important, and yet delicate act, to the extent that one is very strong in his values and beliefs and is then not concerned about being open to the values of others. Therefore, the role of the family and education as well as one's ability to develop his confidence are very important for being able to integrate whilst maintaining one's identity within the British society. We have subsets within the Turkish community, groups of academics, engineers, businessmen and bankers, then there are second generation Turks who all seem to carry out their lives in the UK without much difficulty. But then we have a closed component of our society, which I think everybody in the community needs to interact with, to help them integrate, by improving their language skills, education, and social support institutions to develop their skills etc. You cannot integrate yourself to a different society until you have established a strong, well developed sentiment for your own.

  What sort of advice would you give readers for becoming successful in their careers?

Dedication in terms of hard work and doing a thorough job. Whilst doing this you must always maintain your reputation, integrity, credibility and values. Peoples' perception of who you are is very important. It is how others appreciate and can work with you that can keep things going when you need to overcome difficult challenges.

You need to be enterprising, take risks with your career, no risk no reward! This is one of the most liberal, tolerant and economically vibrant places in Europe, there is plenty of opportunity for those who want it.