Citigroup to close consumer banking franchises in Philippines, 12 other countries

US banking behemoth Citigroup will be closing its consumer banking in 13 countries, including the Philippines, as it plans to refocus its global operations to areas with the “greatest scale and growth potential.”

In a statement posted on its website, Citi announced its “strategic actions” in its Global Consumer Banking “as part of an ongoing strategic review, which will allow Citi to direct investments and resources to the businesses where it has the greatest scale and growth potential.”

With this, Citi said it will focus its Global Consumer Bank presence in Asia and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) particularly on four wealth centers —Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and London.

As a result, the bank said it intends to pursue exits from its consumer franchises in 13 markets across the two regions.

The affected businesses include the consumer franchises in the Philippines as well as Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Nonetheless, the bank’s Institutional Clients Group or wholesale banking business will continue to serve clients in the Philippines and the 12 other markets where it intends to unwind its consumer banking operations.

“As a result of the ongoing refresh of our strategy, we have decided that we are going to double down on wealth. We will operate our consumer banking franchise in Asia and EMEA solely from four wealth centers, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE and London. This positions us to capture the strong growth and attractive returns the wealth management business offers through these important hubs,” said Jane Fraser, Citi CEO.

“While the other 13 markets have excellent businesses, we don’t have the scale we need to compete. We believe our capital, investment dollars and other resources are better deployed against higher returning opportunities in wealth management and our institutional businesses in Asia. We will continue to update you on strategic decisions as we make them while we work to increase the returns we deliver to our shareholders,” Fraser said.

No immediate change

For his part, Citi Philippines CEO and country officer Aftab Ahmed said that there will be “no immediate change to our operations, and no immediate impact to our colleagues as a result of this announcement.”

“In the interim, we will continue to serve our clients with the same care, empathy and dedication as we do today,” Ahmed said.

The Citi Philippines chief said the bank will move to a new phase of growth and transformation focusing on its institutional franchise.

“We have been in the Philippines for over 100 years with dedicated teams and a strong client base who have contributed to our success. We today bank 90% of the top 20 largest market cap firms and over 950 multi-national companies in the Philippines,” Ahmed said.

“In the last year we raised over $20 billion for our Philippines clients,” he added.

Likewise, Citi Asia Pacific CEO Peter Babej said that Asia Pacific is an integral part of the bank’s global strategy, and a key driver for its growth and value proposition.

“We will continue to invest in our network across the region and deliver Citi’s unique global capabilities to clients across all our markets,” Babej said.—AOL, GMA News