Facing the rapidly evolving global COVID-19 pandemic, Citibank Taiwan Ltd (台灣花旗) has proactively taken precautionary measures.
“The health and safety of our colleagues and their families, as well as our clients and the communities we serve, are of the utmost importance. We continue to take proactive measures to preserve their well-being while we maintain our ability to serve our clients,” Citibank Taiwan chairman Paulus Mok (莫兆鴻) said in a statement yesterday.
“We have local and regional contingency plans in place, and we have well-established business continuity plans for the firm. We are monitoring the situation closely, adjusting our operations accordingly, providing regular updates to our colleagues and communicating with local governments,” Mok said.
Photo courtesy of Citibank Taiwan Ltd
Citibank Taiwan has reported solid results for last year.
“The year of 2019 was not easy, as global geopolitics were full of uncertainties with ongoing US-China trade disputes. Nevertheless, Citi Taiwan’s EBIT [earnings before interest and taxes] reported NT$14.672 billion [US$484.129 million] in 2019, jumping 13 percent from a year ago. This is the best year since 2013. It is Citi staff’s dedication and contributions that have made these outstanding achievements possible,” Mok said.
He also reiterated that last year marked the bank’s 55th anniversary.
“We continue to implement the strategy of ‘Be the Best for Our Clients.’ Maintaining the consistent momentum, our institutional clients group continues to strengthen client engagement through exchanges and seminars,” Mok said.
“In supporting clients on financial planning, mergers and acquisitions or custody business, Citi Taiwan has frequently received recognition from professional institutions. Global consumer banking delivered strong performances in 2019. We launched the Citi Cash Back Plus Card and Citibank Global Wallet service, and upgraded the Changhua branch into a smart branch, as part of our continued drive to provide customers with the best services and products,” he said.
In corporate social responsibility, the bank has promoted environmental, social and corporate governance — the three main criteria of international corporate sustainable development. Milestones in these areas include:
In 2016, Citi Taiwan and the Citi Foundation launched the “Pathways to Progress” program to help young people, aged 16 to 24, realize their dreams and set them on the right course in their professional careers.
Last year, Citi Taiwan joined forces with Fulbright Taiwan (Foundation for Scholarly Exchange) and the American Institute in Taiwan, as well as the US National Speech and Debate Association, to launch an English debate education program in line with the government’s policy to build Taiwan into a bilingual nation by 2030.
Citi holds Global Community Day activities every year, with the cumulative participation of more than 20,000 staff members over the past 14 years.
To promote green energy, Citi Taiwan helped a non-governmental organization (NGO) build two solar power plants on its rooftops. It is estimated that over a period of two decades, the two solar power plants will generate a total of about 764,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, and the overall economic benefits of the green energy produced would be as high as NT$3.64 million, while reducing carbon emissions by about 403 tonnes — equal to the carbon sequestered by planting 1,842 trees.
For marine education, Citi Taiwan cooperated with another NGO to publish a “Guidebook of Marine Debris” and promoted a new board game using information from the guidebook to raise public awareness of environmental protection in the past two years.
Citibank Taiwan at the end of last year won Triple A awards for Taiwan’s “Best Bank - Global,” “Best Corporate and Institutional Bank,” “Best M & A Adviser” and “Best Corporate Bonds” from the Asset. It was the 17th consecutive year that Citibank Taiwan won the Triple A award for “Best Bank” and the fifth straight year it won “Best Corporate and Institutional Bank.”
In addition, the bank was named “Best Bank in Asia” last year by the Asset in the publication’s Triple A Sustainable Capital Markets Regional Awards, showing its strong results for both Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region.
“Citi retains the honors as best bank in Asia, as it continues to provide consistency with solid growth numbers in the various markets it operates,” the Asset said, recognizing Citi as best bank in the region for the 19th consecutive year.
“Asia-Pacific is a key strategic priority for Citi, and we are grateful to the Asset for recognizing our exceptional team across the region. Our strong results in 2019 were driven by consistent focus on providing first-rate support to our clients. This client focus remains our core commitment for 2020 and beyond as we continue to drive profitable growth for our firm,” Citi’s Asia-Pacific CEO Peter Babej said.
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