Citi Private Bank's Asia-Pac CEO to retire in Feb 2018

Citi Private Bank's Asia chief executive officer, Bassam Salem, will step down effective February 2018 after six years at the helm, sources close to the bank told The Business Times on Thursday.

In an internal memo seen by BT, the bank said that Citi Private Bank Asia has been recognised across the industry with numerous trade awards during Mr Salem's tenure, but that "it is the excellent team that he helped bring together that will be one of his most memorable achievements."

According to the private bank's website, Mr Salem has 30 years of experience in private banking and asset management. He was overall responsible for the bank's activities across Asia.

Mr Salem was appointed in 2011, replacing Aamir Rahim, who moved to head Citi's Public Sector Group for the Asia Pacific.

Mr Salem joined Citi Private Bank in Geneva in 1985 and for the next fifteen years held several roles including serving as a banker, Regional Investments Head in Asia and in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and ultimately as Global Investments Head. In 2001 he joined EFG Bank, a privately-held Swiss Bank, to start and lead their investment division. After helping list the bank on the Swiss Stock Exchange, he moved to Singapore to expand EFG in Asia and the Middle East, before returning to Citi.