Region Trade Bank has set a new benchmark for the Iraqi financial sector by becoming the nation’s first bank to form a Board of Directors consisting entirely of globally recognized authorities in banking supervision, sanctions policy, payment systems, and financial integrity. This landmark development highlights the bank’s goal of operating under top-tier international governance and compliance models.
The newly appointed Board is led by Chair Marshall S. Billingslea, a former US Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing, former President of the Financial Action Task Force, and former Special Presidential Envoy with ambassadorial status spanning the US Departments of Treasury, Defense, and State, as well as NATO. The Board features a distinguished lineup of international regulatory and financial experts, including Gregory T. Gatjanis, a former Associate Director at the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and long-serving member of the White House National Security Council. Dr. Jorge Jimenez also joins, bringing experience as a former Federal Reserve payments executive and global expert in digital resilience.
Ilze Znotina, the former Head of Latvia’s Financial Intelligence Unit and a sanctions reform expert, serves alongside Hashim Hamandi, a current Senior Economist at the US Treasury Department with past executive experience at JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Lazard. The roster continues with Adnan Kifayat, a former senior official serving across the White House, US Treasury, National Security Council, and Department of State, and Basil Kiwan, who formerly served at the FDIC, Federal Reserve, and US Treasury.
Raed Hijazein adds regional expertise as a senior banking executive with a leadership background at Capital Investment and Standard Chartered Bank. The bank’s executive leadership is driven by Chief Executive Officer Yilmaz Ugur Ay, a banking executive who brings over twenty years of experience in credit risk, corporate banking, and trade finance across Türkiye and Iraq.
This governance milestone follows a period of continuous growth for the institution. Established in 2001, licensed by the Central Bank of Iraq, and listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange, the bank has built a twenty-plus-year reputation as one of the country’s most stable financial institutions. Headquartered in Erbil, the bank operates branches in Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, Kirkuk, Zakho, Mosul, Ramadi, and Basra, with further domestic expansion underway.
The bank delivers a full suite of personal, corporate, and institutional banking solutions, which include savings and current accounts, advanced online and electronic banking, commercial and SME project financing, salary domiciliation, and multi-currency international transfers via the RTGS and SWIFT systems. This recent trajectory is rooted in digital innovation, customer service, and compliance frameworks aligned with rigorous local and international benchmarks.
Chief Executive Officer Yilmaz Ugur Ay stated that Iraq’s banking sector is entering a new era that his institution intends to lead. He noted that assembling a board of this calibre is a deliberate commitment to building an institution that meets the highest standards of governance and financial integrity anywhere in the world, rather than a symbolic gesture, adding that their customers and partners deserve nothing less. By establishing this Board, the bank positions itself as a pioneer in Iraqi corporate governance, solidifying its reputation for transparency, economic support, and forward-looking leadership.
Founded in 2001, Region Trade Bank is a premier Iraqi financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of Iraq and listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange. Operating on the core principle of “By the People, For the People,” the bank delivers comprehensive institutional, corporate, and personal banking solutions across Iraq, with more information available at their official website.
