Citi announces organizational shake-up across business units
Citi announced significant changes to its organizational model that it says will fully align its management structure with the business strategy and simplify the bank. The new, flatter structure elevates the leaders of Citi’s five businesses and eliminates management layers.
“I am determined that our bank will deliver to our full potential, and we’re making bold decisions to meet our commitments to all our stakeholders,” said Citi CEO Jane Fraser, in a statement. “These changes eliminate unnecessary complexity across the bank, increase accountability for delivering excellent client service and strengthen our ability to benefit from the natural linkages that exist amongst our businesses, all with an eye toward delivering on our medium-term targets and our Transformation.”
The leaders of each of Citi’s five interconnected businesses will now report directly to the CEO and be members of the executive management team. The five business leaders include: Shahmir Khaliq, Services; Andrew Morton, Markets; Peter Babej, Banking; Andy Sieg, Wealth; and Gonzalo Luchetti, US Personal Banking.
Leadership of the firm’s geographies outside of North America is now consolidated under Ernesto Torres Cantú, head of International. The scope of Citi’s geographic management will narrow to local-market client coverage and delivery, and legal entity management. Banking and International will share a common management team, creating greater connectivity across Citi for clients under a leaner structure.
A newly-created Client organization is now responsible for strengthening client engagement and experience across the bank’s global network and businesses. David Livingstone will lead this group and become the firm’s chief client officer.
ASIFMA appoints Harshika Patel of J.P. Morgan as Board chair and Zhou as co-vice chair
Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) announced the appointment of Harshika Patel as chair of its Board of Directors for a term of two years. Patel is managing director and CEO of Hong Kong and head of Strategy at J.P. Morgan Asia Pacific, and will take over as ASIFMA chair from David Ratliff, head of Banking and co-head of Corporate & Investment Banking for Asia Pacific at Wells Fargo. Additionally, Jiaxing Zhou (Joe), chief compliance officer and global head of the Legal and Compliance Department at CICC, has been appointed as co-vice chair.
Patel said in a statement: “It is indeed an honor and privilege to serve as chair of ASIFMA, an organization which plays a key role across the region in representing the securities and asset management industry’s views on important regulatory developments. I am very much looking forward to helping effect change on behalf of our members.”
Corliss Ruggles, ASIFMA’s interim chief operating officer, said in a statement: “We are delighted to welcome Harshika as our Chair as ASIFMA enters an exciting new phase of development having now grown to over 170 member firms across the region’s capital markets. We are grateful for David Ratliff’s leadership and thank him for all that he has done for the association.”
Fed swears in new and returning members as well as vice chair
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors announced that Adriana Kugler has been sworn in as a new member, while Lisa Cook will be serving a second term. In addition, Philip Jefferson was sworn in as vice chair.
Prior to her appointment to the Board, Cook was a professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University as well as on the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. During her time at Harvard, she served as deputy director for Africa Research at the Center for International Development.
Most recently, Jefferson was vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty and the Paul B. Freeland Professor of Economics at Davidson College. Before then, he served as chair of the Department of Economics at Swarthmore College, where he was the Centennial Professor of Economics. He was also an economist at the Fed.
Kugler served as the US Executive Director at the World Bank Group and is on leave from Georgetown University where she is a professor of Public Policy and Economics and was vice provost for faculty. Previously, she served as chief economist at the US Department of Labor from 2011 to 2013. She also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and of the Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University.
ECB nominates Bundesbank’s Claudia Buch as chair of Supervisory Board
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the nomination of Claudia Buch for the non-renewable five-year position of chair of the Supervisory Board, following consultation with the Supervisory Board. She is currently vice-president of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
The ECB has informed Irene Tinagli, chair of the ECON Committee, and Nadia Calviño, president of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), of its nomination. The ECON Committee will invite Claudia Buch to a public hearing. If the nomination is approved by the European Parliament and confirmed by the Council of the European Union, Claudia Buch will succeed Andrea Enria as chair of the Supervisory Board on 1 January 2024.
BBH appoints Sarah Holmes as global head of Securities Lending
Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) announced that Sarah Holmes has been appointed global head of Securities Lending. In this role, she will oversee product evolution, client engagement, and trading for Securities Lending. Coming from a role in technology, Holmes is focused on advancing BBH Securities Lending technology and data capabilities that further build excellence in execution efficiency, data transparency, and returns for our clients.
She joined BBH in 1995 and previously worked as chief administrative officer within BBH’s Systems and Technology discipline, where she oversaw Finance, Workforce Planning, Communications, and Oversight. She has also held senior client service positions within the Investor Services Relationship Excellence and Client Service disciplines and served as a senior HR business partner at BBH.
Tom Poppey has assumed the role of head of Product Strategy in Securities Lending and will focus on evolving BBH’s lending strategy and delivering on product enhancements including expansion into new markets, evolving BBH’s automated trading technology, and enhancing DealBoard, BBH’s proprietary technology that aggregates markets and lending data to uncover executable lending optimization opportunities within idle portfolio assets.
Robert Lees remains global head of Securities Lending Trading, responsible for global trading and execution. Lees will continue to advance BBH’s integrated platform trading and algorithmic execution with a focus on optimizing risk adjusted returns for our clients.
Holmes said in a statement: “We aspire to provide global investment managers with superior risk adjusted revenue combined with an outstanding client experience. I am focusing first on advancing our industry leading e-trading capabilities, and adding technology, product features and functionality that will benefit our clients and drive efficiencies across our program.”
FS-ISAC’s CEO takes on advisory board role at Qrypt
Quantum-secure encryption company Qrypt announced that Steven Silberstein, the CEO of FS-ISAC (the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center), is joining its Board of Advisors. Silberstein has more than 25 years of experience in financial services, technology and cybersecurity.
FS-ISAC is the financial sector’s information-sharing collaborative, whose 5,000 members represent $100 trillion in assets. Prior to FS-ISAC, Silberstein served as chief operating officer of BlueVoyant, a global cybersecurity firm, and as CEO of Sheltered Harbor, a not-for-profit subsidiary of FS-ISAC developing data resiliency standards for financial institutions. He was also the first CTO of Sungard, a $3 billion financial technology company acquired by FIS Global, among other experiences.
Silberstein said in a statement: “While digitalization has dramatically pushed the financial services sector forward, I also understand the risk this brings to our privacy and security. Our critical infrastructure must start preparing for a post-quantum world and Qrypt is solving for this today.”
Singapore’s Serendipity Capital appoints former HSBC exec Stevenson as chair
Serendipity Capital announced the appointment of Ewen Stevenson as Board chair. He will succeed John O’Sullivan, who will cease to be a non-executive director and chair. Stevenson will join Mark Machin, the former CEO and president of the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Steve Roder, the former CFO of Manulife and AIA, as a non-executive director of Serendipity Capital.
Stevenson is a veteran banker with over 20 years of senior management experience, with his most recent role as Group CFO of HSBC Holdings. Before joining HSBC, he was Group CFO of The Royal Bank of Scotland from 2014 to 2018.
Serendipity Capital invests in companies that enhance and secure critical technologies and infrastructure related to artificial intelligence, quantum computing and climate change, which large global financial institutions are at the forefront of adopting.
Rob Jesudason, CEO and founding partner of Serendipity Capital, said in a statement “[Stevenson] has significant experience of managing large-scale critical infrastructure and working with governments, regulators and major financial institutions globally. His deep strategic and operational experience and his network will be great assets to Serendipity Capital as we look to materially scale our invested capital. We also see significant and growing investment opportunities in the UK and European Union because of the quality of the region’s universities and its leadership in developing and commercializing deep technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Europe is likewise a global leader in sustainability.”
Reuters: Goldman shrinks executive committee, moves admin officer to banking and markets
Goldman Sachs appointed chief administrative officer Ericka Leslie as head of operations for global banking and markets, its largest division, according to a memo seen by Reuters. The move reduces the bank’s number of executive officers to eight, for now, and leaves just two women in the group.
The two women who remain among the executive officers are chief accounting officer Sheara Fredman and chief legal officer and general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler. The group is led by CEO David Solomon and includes John Waldron, the bank’s president, and Denis Coleman, its finance chief.
Leslie, who is also co-chair of the partnership committee, joined Goldman as an associate in 1996 and became a partner in 2012. The executive has held various leadership roles, including head of technology for currencies and commodities, and operations for the securities division.
Goldman Sachs has made a raft of changes since it divided its business into three units last year and scaled back ambitions for its consumer business, which has lost $3 billion in the last three years. It has also been refocusing its wealth business on the super rich, recently striking a deal to sell part of its wealth unit to an independent manager.
There’s been a number of high-profile departures in recent months, including Julian Salisbury, chief investment officer of asset and wealth management, who is joining investment firm Sixth Street. The partner departures are “absolutely typical” and allow the bank to make room for new leaders, Solomon told CNBC in an interview last week. More than 400 people comprise its elite partner ranks.
Goldman is also gearing up for another round of job cuts for employees who are seen to be underperformers, which could come in October, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters last week, confirming a report in the Financial Times. The bank laid off about 3,200 people earlier this year in its biggest headcount reduction since the 2008 financial crisis.
Central bank governors appointed to lead key BIS committees and groups
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) announced appointments of various committees and groups.
Eddie Yue, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), was appointed chair of the meeting of Governors of major emerging market economies (EMEs), a venue for the exchange of views on macroeconomic and financial developments and risks and on other relevant matters in EMEs. His three-year term commenced after the retirement of the previous chair, BIS deputy general manager Luiz Awazu Pereira da Silva.
The BIS Board of Directors approved the extension for one year of Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo’s term as chair of the Asian Consultative Council, which comprises the Governors of the BIS member central banks in the Asia-Pacific region.
The central bank Governors of the Global Economy Meeting appointed Fabio Panetta as chair of the BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), the global standard setter for payment, clearing and settlement services, and market infrastructures, for a three-year term. Panetta is currently a member of the Executive Board of the ECB and incoming Governor of the Bank of Italy. He will succeed Sir Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor of the Bank of England, who has been CPMI chair since January 2020.
Charlie Walker appointed deputy CEO of the London Stock Exchange
LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) announced that Charlie Walker has been appointed deputy CEO of the London Stock Exchange, and will also join the LSE Board. Charlie will continue to report to Julia Hoggett, CEO of LSE plc to support the daily running of the exchange while continuing to oversee the Group’s primary markets business.
Julia Hoggett, CEO of the London Stock Exchange, said in a statement: “Charlie brings deep knowledge of capital markets having worked at the London Stock Exchange for the past six years in addition to his time working in investment banking. Charlie and I share a passion for ensuring that our markets provide companies with efficient access to capital across their lifecycle. I look forward to delivering on our plans to enhance our financial ecosystem and the global competitiveness of the UK capital markets.”
Charlie Walker joined LSEG in 2018. He is a capital markets specialist having previously worked within J.P. Morgan Cazenove’s Equity Capital Markets team responsible for originating and executing equity transactions raising over £45 billion of equity capital across five continents on behalf of clients.
SocGen announces new appointments
Société Générale announced several new appointments across the bank. Francis Donnat is appointed Group general secretary and will be a member of the Group Management Committee. He will replace Gilles Briatta who will pursue other projects outside the Group. Currently partner at Baker & McKenzie, Donnat’s has strong knowledge of French and European institutions and private sector players, as well as in-depth legal expertise. He will report to Philippe Aymerich, Group deputy CEO.
Bruno Delas will become Group chief information officer and will remain a member of the Group Management Committee. He will replace Carlos Gonçalves who will pursue new professional endeavors outside of the Group. Delas’ main mission will consist in defining and steering the transversal IT strategy axes, as well as setting standards and policies to foster mutualization and strengthen the security and the operational efficiency of the Group’s platforms. He will report to Laura Mather, Group chief operating officer.
Laurent Stricher will replace Bruno Delas as Head of ITIM (Innovation, Technologies & IT) and remains chief information officer of SG Retail Banking Network. He will report to Philippe Aymerich.
SGX announces leadership to oversee new business structure
Singapore Exchange (SGX) announced a new structure aimed at capitalizing on the strengths of its multi-asset offering, and further scaling the business across products and platforms. Michael Syn, in his new role as president and head of Global Markets Division, will oversee all asset classes.
SGX will make the following key changes:
- All business lines, except for Indices, will be under the purview of Michael Syn in his new role as president and head of Global Markets Division. The Global Markets Division will cover all our asset classes – equities, fixed income, currencies and commodities.
- Lee Beng Hong will head newly formed Wholesale Markets & Platforms, building on the leadership position of SGX FX which has expanded substantially beyond FX futures to include FX technology and workflow solutions. SGX expects this to achieve the twin objectives of developing its multi-asset offering and further scaling the geographical and client coverage.
- Indices will be led by chief financial officer Ng Yao Loong, who will oversee the strategic development of the Indices business, focusing on partnerships to augment our offering. s.
- Tinku Gupta will be appointed as chief information officer overseeing Technology and Operations. She will work with the head of Operations and Market Services, Nico Torchetti, to enhance service delivery for existing customers and co-create new solutions to meet evolving expectations of retail consumers and institutional clients.
Loh Boon Chye, SGX’s CEO, said in a statement: “As an exchange built on a strong foundation in securities and derivatives, SGX Group has over the years transformed to become a highly-valued multi-asset business for customers and partners around the world. More and more global investors are turning to our trusted international marketplaces to invest and manage portfolio risk across asset classes. Our new structure will enable us to capitalize on the immense growth opportunities from rising capital flows into Asia.”
BNP Paribas appoints Matt Passante as head of Prime Sales for EMEA
BNP Paribas announced the appointment Matt Passante as head of prime sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He is to be based in London and has more than 20 years of industry experience. Formerly, he was EMEA head of prime finance sales at Citi between 2015 and 2023.