Citi

As their involvement in fintech matures, large banks are focusing on building standalone digital businesses rather than just taking stakes in third-party startups through venture capital funds and accelerators. Can these new in-house ventures disprove the thesis that incumbent banks can’t create disruptive business models?

This one is welcome in Australian banking.

DBS’s purchase of Citi’s local consumer business in January was a timely reminder of Taiwan’s allure. Yes, the island lies on a geopolitical fault line and the banking sector is crowded. But it’s also profitable and now welcomes digital disruption.

Banks need to be hyper-vigilant as threats grow from both malign and accidental disruption.

With consumer business sales mostly finalized in Asia, attention turns now to Jane Fraser’s commitment to devote the proceeds to growth in the region. We are seeing early signs.

The war in Ukraine has further highlighted the benefits of Banco Santander’s diversification across Europe and the Americas, according to executive chairman Ana Botín. However, its European home market may be a big disadvantage in Citi’s looming auction of Mexican lender Banamex.

Jane Fraser can front Citi’s investor day with good news about consumer divestments in Asia. It is hard to see a Russia sale now, though.

Treasury teams across the energy sector need to make better use of data if they are to make sense of a market that is becoming more complex.

For four years, a criminal case brought by an Australian regulator against Citi, Deutsche Bank, ANZ and six bankers who were facing jail has looked ill-judged, acting retrospectively against common market practice in a share placement. Now it has collapsed and lessons need to be learned

Citi’s global head of private banking Ida Liu sits down with Euromoney to discuss her journey to the top of the industry, the value of wellbeing and the importance of eliminating friction from client engagement.

Of all the 13 consumer businesses on the block in Citi’s Asia revamp, Taiwan was the most prized. DBS’s successful bid bolsters an already profitable business – and doing so required some hard thinking about geopolitics by the Singapore bank’s board.

Citi’s decision to withdraw from consumer banking in Mexico demonstrates the extent to which fintech players have transformed this market. How prepared are the other incumbents to take on the competition?

The decision to sell Citibanamex ends the ‘Mexican exception’.

Consent orders provide a perfect excuse to shareholders for spending on the better risk management and controls that Citi’s businesses need.

Citi has announced a raft of EMEA region hires across Citi Global Wealth, launched in January. It’s a sign the new division is coming together.

A year on from being named financial adviser to Covax, a global alliance set up to deliver two billion pandemic vaccine doses to low-income countries, Citi bankers tell Euromoney about lessons learned, what has been achieved – and if Covax is a success or not.

More financial institutions are moving into the banking-as-a-service market to tap into demand from corporates looking to offer multiple payment options and enhance customer loyalty.

We have reached the bidding deadline for Citi’s retail assets in Asia, and the field is becoming clearer. When transactions start being announced early next year, they are likely to favour those who not only offer top dollar but also promise to keep staff on and won’t cause a regulatory headache.

Citi hopes to gain an edge in the highly competitive – and lucrative – securities services market by teaming up with data cloud company Snowflake to improve information flows across transactions.

Analysts press chief executive Jane Fraser on why returning capital to shareholders isn’t a higher priority given the returns gap to peers and Citi’s low stock price.

Societe Generale’s decision to launch a joint treasury management solution with Kyriba is just the latest example of banks and technology vendors collaborating to offer more sophisticated treasury functionality.

The US bank has turned pandemic-inspired strategic conversations with companies into mandates.

A full range of best-in-class products, strong advisory capabilities and global reach are more important than ever in post-pandemic corporate banking.

The bank is keen to get started on taking the tough decisions needed to achieve net zero.

Citi has 13 Asia and EMEA consumer businesses up for sale. The first to be sold, to NAB in Australia, creates a template Citi would love to see used in later deals.

The big six US banks are releasing the loan loss reserves they built up in the pandemic. Where might this end? The answer could be surprising.

For banks across the world, the coronavirus pandemic created countless new challenges in servicing clients and many sought answers in the acceleration of their digital development. Over a number of years Citi has been working to improve its digital offerings across all its businesses – work that stood it in good stead to help retail and institutional clients tackle the new environment they faced in 2020.

It wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to say that no other investment bank can operate across the central America and Caribbean region like Citi. With its history and presence, the US bank seems to have a stranglehold on deal flow from the region and Citi’s investment banking team, led by Caribbean and central America cluster head Marcelo Gorrini, has been dominant in the awards period.

Jane Fraser, who took over as Citi’s chief executive on March 1, 2021, wasted no time in putting ESG at the top of the bank’s agenda. On her first day she announced the bank’s commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

With margin requirements rising sharply, banks must do a much better job managing surpluses and shortages of collateral across all their businesses.