Citi

Citi retains the award of best bank for financing – one of very few to be retained in a volatile year – for being good at everything it does across the financing space.

The US bank’s leadership on diversity is based on its commitment to transparency.

This year, the world’s best digital bank is also North America’s best digital bank. Citi continues to bolt clever new services onto its ever-expanding yet increasingly integrated digital platform and to upgrade at a furious pace.

New layers on strong foundations have built enduring success in digital for the US firm.

Network and scale make all the difference in a business where cost pressure is intense.

By hiring two private bankers from outside the industry to power its Asia family-office business, Citi offers further proof that its peers should take its ambitious regional wealth management plans seriously.

By making Valentin Valderrabano COO of Citi Global Wealth, the US bank demonstrates its willingness to think outside the box when promoting from within.

As their involvement in fintech matures, large banks are focusing on building standalone digital businesses rather than just taking stakes in third-party startups through venture capital funds and accelerators. Can these new in-house ventures disprove the thesis that incumbent banks can’t create disruptive business models?

This one is welcome in Australian banking.

DBS’s purchase of Citi’s local consumer business in January was a timely reminder of Taiwan’s allure. Yes, the island lies on a geopolitical fault line and the banking sector is crowded. But it’s also profitable and now welcomes digital disruption.

Banks need to be hyper-vigilant as threats grow from both malign and accidental disruption.

With consumer business sales mostly finalized in Asia, attention turns now to Jane Fraser’s commitment to devote the proceeds to growth in the region. We are seeing early signs.

The war in Ukraine has further highlighted the benefits of Banco Santander’s diversification across Europe and the Americas, according to executive chairman Ana Botín. However, its European home market may be a big disadvantage in Citi’s looming auction of Mexican lender Banamex.

Jane Fraser can front Citi’s investor day with good news about consumer divestments in Asia. It is hard to see a Russia sale now, though.

Treasury teams across the energy sector need to make better use of data if they are to make sense of a market that is becoming more complex.

For four years, a criminal case brought by an Australian regulator against Citi, Deutsche Bank, ANZ and six bankers who were facing jail has looked ill-judged, acting retrospectively against common market practice in a share placement. Now it has collapsed and lessons need to be learned

Citi’s global head of private banking Ida Liu sits down with Euromoney to discuss her journey to the top of the industry, the value of wellbeing and the importance of eliminating friction from client engagement.

Of all the 13 consumer businesses on the block in Citi’s Asia revamp, Taiwan was the most prized. DBS’s successful bid bolsters an already profitable business – and doing so required some hard thinking about geopolitics by the Singapore bank’s board.

Citi’s decision to withdraw from consumer banking in Mexico demonstrates the extent to which fintech players have transformed this market. How prepared are the other incumbents to take on the competition?

The decision to sell Citibanamex ends the ‘Mexican exception’.

Consent orders provide a perfect excuse to shareholders for spending on the better risk management and controls that Citi’s businesses need.

Citi has announced a raft of EMEA region hires across Citi Global Wealth, launched in January. It’s a sign the new division is coming together.

A year on from being named financial adviser to Covax, a global alliance set up to deliver two billion pandemic vaccine doses to low-income countries, Citi bankers tell Euromoney about lessons learned, what has been achieved – and if Covax is a success or not.

More financial institutions are moving into the banking-as-a-service market to tap into demand from corporates looking to offer multiple payment options and enhance customer loyalty.

We have reached the bidding deadline for Citi’s retail assets in Asia, and the field is becoming clearer. When transactions start being announced early next year, they are likely to favour those who not only offer top dollar but also promise to keep staff on and won’t cause a regulatory headache.

Citi hopes to gain an edge in the highly competitive – and lucrative – securities services market by teaming up with data cloud company Snowflake to improve information flows across transactions.

Analysts press chief executive Jane Fraser on why returning capital to shareholders isn’t a higher priority given the returns gap to peers and Citi’s low stock price.

Societe Generale’s decision to launch a joint treasury management solution with Kyriba is just the latest example of banks and technology vendors collaborating to offer more sophisticated treasury functionality.

The US bank has turned pandemic-inspired strategic conversations with companies into mandates.

A full range of best-in-class products, strong advisory capabilities and global reach are more important than ever in post-pandemic corporate banking.