Citigroup to exit Malaysia, 12 other consumer banking markets

Global financial services giant Citigroup announced on Thursday its plans to withdraw from 13 European and Asian markets as part of its policy shift towards expanding wealth management operations in “wealth centres” where the company has best scaling opportunities, reports Sputnik.

“Citi intends to pursue exits from its consumer franchises in 13 markets across the two regions. The affected businesses include the consumer franchises in Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam,” the company said, adding that it would still serve its clients in these markets.

The decision came as a result of the ongoing strategy review, Citi CEO Jane Fraser said.

“We have decided that we are going to double down on wealth. We will operate our consumer banking franchise in Asia and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) solely from four wealth centres, 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,” she said.

In the first quarter of 2021, the bank reported an increase of US$7.9 billion in net income from the same period last year due to exceptionally strong performance in the institutional clients group.