HONG KONG – Citigroup named Stephen Bird, its chief executive officer for Asia Pacific, as the new head of its global consumer bank.
The announcement, contained in a memo issued by Citigroup Inc CEO Michael Corbat, said Bird, 48, will succeed Manuel Medina-Mora, who had said earlier this year that he would retire.
Francisco Aristeguieta, 49, the CEO for Latin America, will fill Bird’s job, the memo to employees said.
The change will take effect on 01 June. Corbat said Bird is exceptionally well-qualified to continue the transformation of Citigroup’s local consumer businesses into one Global Consumer Bank.
Bird has been with Citigroup for 17 years and Corbat credited him with increasing revenue in the Asia Pacific region.
Meanwhile, Ariseguieta will move from Miami to Hong Kong to take Bird’s old job as CEO for Asia Pacific.
Mr. Bird’s Asia unit was a reliable source of income for Citigroup even during the depths of the financial crisis, and the bank often uses Asia to test new ideas for consumer products, like mini-branches, before exporting them to other regions.
Last year, Asia made up 21% of revenue for Citicorp, where the bank stores assets that it plans to keep. Mr. Bird became sole CEO of Citigroup’sAsia unit three years ago. – BusinessNewsAsia.com