Citi Private Bank appoints four bankers to newly-created senior roles

CITI Private Bank has appointed four senior bankers to newly-created leadership roles following the retirement of Asia Pacific chief executive officer Bassam Salem in October.

The bank said in a statement on Tuesday (Dec 12) that it has named Steven Lo as regional head. Reporting to him are Rudolf Hitsch as North Asia head, Jyrki Rauhio as South Asia head and Akbar Shah as head of business development.

These newly created roles are effective from Feb 1, 2018.

"The private bank has been one of the fastest-growing businesses for Citi in Asia in the last few quarters and one of the best-performing private banking businesses for Citi globally this year," noted Mr Lo. "This new organisational structure will bring new value and synergy to the business, align us better with clients in the region, increase our focus on key markets and help bring us to the next phase of growth."

Mr Hitsch, who currently heads the offshore private bank business with clients from China and Taiwan, will add on coverage for Hong Kong in his new role as North Asia head. He has more than 18 years of experience in the China market. Since taking on the Taiwan business two years ago, he has restructured it and turned it into one of Citi's fastest-growing businesses in Asia.

Mr Rauhio, who is currently the head of investment finance for the private bank in Asia, will cover Asean, Australia, New Zealand, and Global India in his new role. He has worked at Citi for the past 23 years in a number of markets and in various relationship and franchise management roles around the world, initially within corporate and investment banking, and with the private bank for the past seven years.

He will also report to Citi's Asean head Amol Gupte for his Asean responsibilities.

Mr Shah, meanwhile, will be responsible for client acquisition and the establishment of the Asia Pacific Advisory Board, which will become an important source of strategic guidance and client engagement for the business in the region, Citi said. He has had a substantial career within Citi and in the relationship and wealth management business spanning 30 years.

The current global market manager for Asean Jessica Poh will report to Mr Rauhio, and will be responsible for developing new and deepening mega-wealth client relationships within the South Asia region.