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.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
RSS