Citi is growing rapidly in China on huge interest, CEO says

[SHANGHAI] Citigroup is growing “rapidly” in China with reviving interest from investors and companies in the world’s second largest economy, according to the bank’s chief executive officer.  

“We have had huge interest and a large number of investors and companies coming to China to understand what’s happening here, as well as the Chinese companies and investors that are looking much more externally now,” Jane Fraser said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday (Nov 14). “So that really feels like a sea-change here that’s pretty exciting.”

The 58-year-old, who became CEO in early 2021, has been driving through Citigroup’s biggest restructuring in decades – including cutting 20,000 roles – in an attempt to shed its laggard reputation on Wall Street. 

In recent years, the lender exited consumer banking in markets in Asia, including China, India and Taiwan. It is also cutting technology employee workforce in China by about 3,500 as part of its global simplification efforts.

Fraser said it’s not retrenching, but is on the front foot and taking market share. 

The lender is focused on serving Chinese companies looking to expand overseas as well as clients with cross-border needs, who are a “vibrant segment,” said Fraser, who was hosting a Citigroup conference in Shanghai.   

Citi beat Wall Street revenue estimates across all five of its major business lines during the third quarter. The bank last month handed Fraser more power, with the additional title of chair, making her the last of the big six US bank CEOs to take the added position. 

Fraser said the bank is quite optimistic about 2026, but the challenge right now for the US Federal Reserve has been the government shutdown. 

The recent implosion of auto lender Tricolor Holdings and car-parts supplier First Brands Group have rattled investors and ensnared lenders. Fraser said the bank’s balance sheet is “pristine” and heavily investment-grade; and more broadly, companies have been building more cash, while the US consumer is being fiscally responsible.  

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“We haven’t seen a thing that is concerning us,” she said. 

Artificial intelligence is changing “a lot” of what the firm is expecting to need going forward, but Citigroup sees this an opportunity to train up talent, she said. 

Viswas Raghavan, Citi’s head of banking, also said in an interview on Friday that China’s market was “flourishing,” singled out strength in Japan and that there are multiple tailwinds in the region.   

Raghavan was hired last year from JPMorgan Chase to lead its newly formed banking division. He’s beefed up the unit with dozens of bankers at the managing director level. 

The bank has been seeking to get a licence for a securities business in China over the past years, submitting initial documents to Chinese regulators in late 2021, but has been hampered by US and Chinese authorities.  

Still, it has a wide-ranging business in China, with licences for bond clearing, corporate bond underwriting, and for domestic fund custody.

Globally, the bank has raised more than US$250 billion for clients from in the capital markets year to date, including nearly US$30 billion for Chinese clients, according to data provided by Citigroup.

Citi sees strong pipelines for both equity and debt offerings in Asia, with Hong Kong, China, and India expected to lead activity. The bank forecasts up to US$20 billion in IPOs in India over the next 12 months. BLOOMBERG