Chinatrust wants Citibank executive

"Chen is deeply disturbed by the media speculation, which may end up forcing him to leave, even though he might not have intended to do so."

Joyce Ho, Citibank's public relations manager

Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信銀金控) is keen on recruiting Eric Chen (陳聖德), country corporate officer of Citibank NA (花旗銀行), to further expand its consumer-banking business, local Chinese-language media reported yesterday.

Chinatrust President Jeffrey Koo, Jr. (辜仲諒) has reportedly offered a blank check and his presidency to Chen -- should Chen and his professional team decide to work at Chinatrust, several local papers reported.

Core members of Chen's team include John Li (李鐘培), head of Citibank's financial and professional markets, and Jerry Harn (韓蔚廷), head of corporate banking, the report said.

Chen will make a final decision by Monday, the reports said

Chinatrust officials and Chen declined to comment on the media speculation. Citibank released a statement, saying that Chen had not submitted his resignation.

"Chen is deeply disturbed by the media speculation, which may end up forcing him to leave, even though he might not have intended to do so," Joyce Ho (何歡), the bank's public relations manager, said.

Citibank also rejected media speculation that the bank will reduce its staff in Taiwan, as well as in Europe and the US, based on orders from its New York headquarters.

"We have no staff reduction targets in Taiwan, but we constantly review our operations to look at ways of improving services," the bank's statement said.

Citibank said layoffs were complete fiction.

Koo is currently in Shanghai on a business trip and, was therefore not available to confirm the report.

Chen, a 48-year-old veteran of the banking industry, is a graduate of National Chengchi University, with an MBA from the University of Missouri. He joined Citibank as a management associate in 1980 and assumed the position of regional financial markets head in October 1998. After having worked at the bank for nearly 18 years, Chen replaced Peter Baumann as its Taiwan branch head in September 2001.

Market watchers expect that if Chen takes charge of Chinatrust, it will help strengthen the bank's core business in consumer financing.

"Generally speaking, executives from foreign banks are more professional than local bank executives," said Chang Yi-hsiung (張義雄), First Commercial Bank's (第一銀行) executive vice president.

Chang said executives from foreign banks are also more creative than their local counterparts and they are very aggressive in challenging grey areas in the law.