Citigroup names new chief executive for post-Brexit hub

Braden’s appointment means the bank’s Europe ‘cluster’ will now be led out of Frankfurt, rather than Dublin

Citigroup has named a new chief executive of its post-Brexit hub in Frankfurt, the latest step in the US investment bank’s reconfiguring of its European operations in the wake of the UK’s departure from the EU.

Kristine Braden, New York-based chief of staff to Mike Corbat, Citi’s chief executive, is moving to become head of the bank’s so-called European cluster, according to an internal memo seen by Financial News.

She will also be chief executive of Citi’s German broker-dealer operation and of Citi Global Markets Europe, the bank’s regulated EU entity.

The previous head of the Europe cluster, Zdenek Turek, was chief executive of Citibank Europe, which is the group’s principal EU-area banking entity, based in Dublin. Turek is moving to London to become chief risk officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

He fills the shoes of Colin Church, the previous chief risk officer for Emea, who will take a new role as global head of crisis risk and climate risk.

Braden’s appointment means the bank’s European cluster will now be led out of Frankfurt, rather than Dublin, and could set the stage for further expansion in Germany.

David Livingstone, Citigroup’s Emea CEO, said: “Our pan-European bank in Dublin was created in 2016, and has reached a level of maturity to allow our Europe cluster head role to shift to Frankfurt, where our EU broker-dealer became operational in 2018.”

In the last year, Citi been moving about 60 people from London to Frankfurt, which has become the centrepiece of its EU investment banking operations since the UK’s departure from the trading bloc.

While the build out of its European investment banking team is now largely complete, Manolo Falco, its co-head of banking, capital markets and advisory, told Financial News this week that there is still scope for hiring in Germany.

The bank is searching for a permanent replacement to lead its German bank following Stefan Wintels’ move to become head of investment banking for financial institutions on 25 February. Stefan Hafke, head of corporate banking for Germany and Austria, has taken over from Wintels on an interim basis.

As part of the latest changes, Cecilia Ronan succeeds Turek as chief executive of Citibank Europe, but will not inherit his leadership of the Europe cluster, instead reporting to Braden.

Citi has been shaking up the leadership of its operations on the continent in the wake of Brexit. Earlier this month, it named Fabio Lisanti as head of its markets business for Europe, excluding the UK and Miguel Gabian as head of its sales and trading business in Spain and Portugal.

Correction: This story was updated at 16:45 on 27 February to reflect the fact that Fabio Lisanti was named head of the markets business for Europe, not Leo Arduini as previously stated.

Source: Financial News

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