Citigroup to hire 3,000 in Asia banking business in growth push

HONG KONG, June 07 (Reuters): Citigroup Inc plans to hire around 3,000 new staff for its Asia institutional business in the next few years, sharpening its focus in a fast-growing region where it has exited consumer banking in most markets, its Asia Pacific chief executive said.

The previously unreported staff expansion plans underline Citi's ambition to make institutional banking and wealth management engines of growth, seeking to bolster revenue in a region that has become a battleground for global banks looking to tap its vast economies and growing wealth.

Citi's institutional business includes investment banking, and corporate and commercial banking units that provide trade finance, cash management, payments, and custody services, among others.

"We're talking about real meat on the bones on growing our business across Asia," Asia-Pacific CEO Peter Babej told Reuters in an interview. Babej took on the role in 2019 and previously worked as global head of the bank's financial institutions group.