Source: India dot com
“New Delhi: Citigroup Inc. plans to exit retail banking in 13 markets across Asia and the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. According to a Bloomberg report quoting bank statement, the bank will instead operate its consumer-banking franchise in both regions from four wealth centers in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and London. Citigroup will exit its consumer franchises in Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, the report further adds.
“This positions us to capture the strong growth and attractive returns the wealth-management business offers through these important hubs,” Fraser said in the statement.
In India, the bank has 35 branches and employs approximately 4,000 people in the consumer banking business.
On Thursday, the bank announced exiting from the consumer banking businesses in 13 countries, with its global CEO Jane Fraser attributing the decision to an absence of scale to compete in these geographies. Contours of the exit were not immediately known and the proposed exit from the consumer banking business will also need regulatory nods.
“There is no immediate change to our operations and no immediate impact to our colleagues as a result of this announcement. In the interim, we will continue to serve our clients with the same care, empathy and dedication that we do today,” Citi India”s Chief Executive Ashu Khullar said.
“… the sharpened strategy announced today will strengthen our ability to bring the full global power of Citi to our institutional clients, reinforcing our leading positions across corporate, commercial and investment banking, treasury and trade solutions, as well as markets and securities services,” he added.
Citi had entered India in 1902 and started the consumer banking business in 1985. Apart from the institutional banking business, it will continue to focus on offshoring or global business support rendered from centres in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai and Gurugram.
Khullar said India is a strategic talent pool for Citi and it will continue to grow the five ”Citi Solution Centers”. At present, there are postings for 4,000 jobs at the solution centres posted on its hiring website, officials said.
Citi had reported a post-tax net of Rs 4,912 crore for FY20 as against Rs 4,185 crore in the previous fiscal. Its retail bank serves people across the spectrum, including the salaried and the high networth individuals, through dedicated offerings.”