Singapore a critical node for Citi's global ops, says bank's regional head

He believes 'Asia South' has ingredients to outperform all other regions where Citi is in

- Ven Sreenivasan

Market Watch Senior Columnist Mr Amol Gupte is probably one of the happiest Citibankers in the world.

"I'm lucky to get to run this geography," he said chirpily when I met him for this interview.

The geography Mr Gupte is referring to is Citi's "Asia South" cluster, which encompasses the Indian subcontinent and South-east Asia. The portfolio includes India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Appointed to the role in September 2023, after Citi chief executive Jane Fraser announced a global restructuring of the bank's operations and management structure, the 35-year Citi veteran has served as the Asean head and Citi country officer for Singapore since 2016.

Citi's other global clusters are: Jana, comprising Japan, Australia and North Asia - China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea; MEA, for the Middle East and Africa; Europe; the United Kingdom; and Latam, for Latin America. Citi considers the cluster portfolio structure more efficient and seamless, with over 98 per cent of the bank operating under eight management layers, reporting directly to New York-based Ms Fraser.

One of the key initiatives undertaken by Citi when building the Asia South cluster was the sell-off of its consumer banking franchises in these countries, with the exception of Singapore, and focus on commercial and institutional franchises.

In South-east Asia, the consumer franchise was bought by UOB (except the Philippines), while the Taiwan business was taken by DBS Bank.

Mr Gupte said the decision was prompted by the realisation that Citi did not have the scale to compete effectively against the domestic banks in these markets.

"Now we play to businesses which have global scale, and support cross-border needs, whether mergers and acquisitions, trade support, capital or others," he said.