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| Best Emerging markets bank: Citi |
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| Also shortlisted: HSBC and Standard Chartered |
No other emerging market banker launches an international sales pitch, using their corporate mantra, with as much relish as a Citi executive.
It’s appropriate then that the long-standing refrain used by Citi bankers of all stripes – that the bank boasts a local presence in 100 countries, more than any other US bank, and conducts business in 160 – has been given a new lease of life in recent years.
Chief executive Michael Corbat has followed in the footsteps of his ousted predecessor, Vikram Pandit, by deploying extra capital to growth markets, thanks to savings generated by Citi’s post-crisis balance-sheet surgery, with targeted cost-cutting and streamlining of non-core holdings across the group.
As global macroeconomic concerns, regulatory requirements and market pressures for cost-cutting bite universal-banking rivals, Citi continues to position its core global franchise in emerging markets, across retail, corporate and investment banking. In recent years, the bank has deepened its high-margin corporate and consumer banking presence in Latin America, ramped up its wealth management and retail capabilities in key Asia-Pacific markets, adopted a more focused strategy in the urban emerging European markets, and acquired ING Group’s custody services in seven CEE countries.