Citigroup Inc plans to exit retail banking in 13 markets across Asia, and the region of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The bank would instead operate its consumer-banking franchise in both regions from four wealth centers in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and London, it said yesterday in a statement.
The move is part of an ongoing review of the company’s strategy by chief executive officer Jane Fraser, who took over last month.
Photo: Bloomberg
“This positions us to capture the strong growth and attractive returns the wealth-management business offers through these important hubs,” Fraser said.
Citigroup is to exit its consumer franchises in Taiwan, Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The firm would continue to offer products in those markets to customers of its institutional clients group, which houses the private bank, cash-management arm, and investment-banking and trading businesses.
The withdrawal came as Citigroup reported record quarterly profit of US$7.94 billion, or US$3.62 per share, boosted by the flurry of blank-check companies it helped take public in the first quarter.
“While the other 13 markets have excellent businesses, we don’t have the scale we need to compete,” Fraser said. “We believe our capital, investment dollars and other resources are better deployed against higher returning opportunities in wealth management and our institutional businesses in Asia.”
Yesterday, the Financial Supervisory Commission said it has been informed by Citibank Taiwan Ltd (花旗台灣) about its parent company’s latest decision and that the bank would find a buyer for its consumer banking business in Taiwan.
Citibank Taiwan chairman Paulus Mok (莫兆鴻) told the commission that exiting Taiwan’s consumer banking market was a global strategy by its parent company and “had nothing to do with Taiwan’s business environment,” Banking Bureau Director-General Sherri Chuang (莊琇媛) said.
“It is not clear when the bank will sell its consumer banking business in Taiwan, but we will ensure that the rights of its clients, employees and consumers are protected,” Chuang said.
The bank might sell its consumer banking operations as a package, including the credit card business, wealth management business and the bank branches, she said.
The transaction could be similar to when Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd sold its retail and wealth management businesses to DBS Bank Ltd, she said, adding that a transaction would need the commission’s approval.
Citibank is currently the largest foreign bank in Taiwan in terms of credit card business, commission data showed.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS