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Return to UBS tops private banking poll

Sallie Krawcheck, previously the head of Citigroup's private equity arm Smith Barney, has been made Citigroup's new CFO.

Hendrik Hilgert has become head of Citigroup's mergers and acquisitions team in Germany in a move that some say is the first in a line of defections from German banks.

By Durraj Tase, Head of Capital Markets

It has been more than seven months since Bank of America bought FleetBoston, and almost six since JPMorgan Chase and Bank One announced their deal. But still Citigroup hasn?t pounced, confounding those who were sure that the world?s largest bank would feel compelled to join the rush to build a national retail franchise in its home market.

By Ravi Raju, Head of Investments, Asia Pacific & Middle East

Never let it be said that running a global financial services organization leaves you bereft of a sense of humour. Talking to investors in Singapore in February, Citigroup CEO Chuck Prince was reiterating his stance on future acquisitions. As Prince has publicly explained, the bulk of the $50 billion pre-tax net income that he wants Citigroup to be making in five years' time will come from organic growth. There will be no repeat of the Citicorp/Travelers merger of 1998, which was truly a transforming event for both sides.

The very richest clients of private banks are natural candidates for the services of investment banks. Hence the big banks' efforts to foster links across their own activities. Welcome to the world of the double-sided business card. Mark Brown reports.

Highly commended: Deutsche Bank

Highly commended: JPMorgan Treasury Services, SEB, The Bank of New York

Afer three years of speculation about his departure, Citigroup's CEO Sandy Weil has finally named a successor. But the story doesn't end there.

Citi takes over top position from Deutsche in Euromoney’s annual poll of polls. Deutsche is beaten to second place overall by UBS.

Many banks that took part in this year's foreign exchange internet awards will no doubt groan with disappointment when they see that Citigroup has won the award for best bank in online forex for the second year running. And that is understandable. As standards rise across the board, the differences between one suite of online forex tools and another shrink.

Runners-up: Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, UBS Warburg

Runner-up: JPMorgan Treasury Services

People often talk metaphorically about a glass ceiling being an obstacle to career progression but at the Citigroup tower in Canary Wharf the threat from above is all too real.

So Sandy Weill has a successor at last. Or does he? The chairman and CEO of Citigroup has announced that Bob Willumstad is being promoted to president.

Citibank/SSSB and Deutsche are neck and neck in our annual poll of polls compilation of survey results. Deutsche tops the underwriting table again and jumps ahead of both Goldman and Citibank/SSSB to win the advisory section. Citibank/SSSB wins our new internet and transactions processing tables and beats Deutsche into second place in the trading section. Goldman scores strongly in all categories save transactions processing, and JPMorgan Chase is in the top four in all categories except underwriting.

While it has become clear that the combination of an investment bank and a commercial bank works, it may be a long and hard journey for Citigroup to achieve across-the-board success.

John Reed kept himself to himself in the latter part of his career at Citibank. And these days he is pretty reclusive. Colleagues say he is still haunted by the period in 1999 when, in the aftermath of Citi’s takeover by Travelers, he was eclipsed by his co-chairman, Sandy Weill.

What do the the CEO of Standard Chartered, the finance minister of Pakistan, the central bank governor of the Philippines and the opposition leader in Liberia have in common? They all used to work at Citibank.

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The endgame being played out in the Polish banking sector is messy and aggressive and cuts to the heart of the attractions and the problems faced by strategic and portfolio investors in this emerging European market. The protagonists include three of the world’s powerhouse banks: Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. Minority shareholder rights have been ignored in the scramble for market position. Ian Dawson reports on the fight for the last seats at the top table