Having 30 years of experience in the Banking Sector, Mr. George Taniskidis holds the position of Optima bank’s Chairman, since July 2019.
He commenced his career as an associate attorney with the law firm of Rogers & Wells in New York. Upon his return to Greece, he joined Motor Oil Hellas.
His banking career commenced in 1990, in Xiosbank, as Head of the Consumer Business Group and Branch Network. Upon Xiosbank’s acquisition (late 1998) by Piraeus Bank, Mr. Taniskidis was named General Manager and served on the Strategic Planning Committee.
From 2002 until June 2010, as Chairman and Managing Director of Millennium Bank Greece, Mr. Taniskidis led the Bank from concept to fruition. It has to be stated that Millennium Bank achieved its goals three years earlier than expected.
In the same period, he led the acquisition of a banking institution in Turkey which was then renamed to Millennium Bank Turkey. He subsequently served as a Member of its Board of Directors. He later served as the interim Managing Director of Proton Bank during the transition period from late July until October 2011, when he successfully maintained the bank’s liquidity and access to markets during the tumultuous period prior to its split into “good bank” and “bad bank” entities.
From 2003 to 2005, he was a Member of the Board of Directors of Visa International Europe.
For many years he has served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Banks Association.
He currently serves on the Boards of Directors in a variety of companies in the trading, manufacturing, and shipping sectors (such as Loulis Food Ingredients – listed on ATHEX, EuroDry Ltd – listed on NASDAQ, Euroseas Ltd – listed on NASDAQ).
Furthermore, Mr. Taniskidis since June 2002, is a very active member of the YPO global leadership community. He has served on the Regional Board Europe for eight consecutive years and was the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the European Regional Conference held in Athens, Greece in 2016.
He played a pivotal role in the acquisition of Marfin Bank Romania (currently VISTA BANK). He also envisaged the opportunity to create a bank without legacies in Greece. He pursued this goal fervently and finally, he acquired Investment Bank of Greece (currently Optima bank). Optima bank within three years has managed to produce outstanding results and has become a reference bank in the Greek banking system. In 2022 Optima bank more than tripled its recurrent results of 2021.
Mr. Taniskidis holds a Law degree from the University of Athens Law School, having graduated first in his class, and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.