Citigroup’s UK chief executive officer Tiina Lee said the bank’s management overhaul was over and that the bank is now ready to “selectively” hire.
Ms Lee pointed to areas such as corporate banking where she expected the bank to add more staff and clients, “particularly in fast-growing areas”.
Her comments come after Citigroup fired thousands of employees as part of a global restructuring programme announced last year aimed at improving returns that have lagged US rivals.
The reorganisation concluded this week, and Ms Lee said the time was right for the bank to look for growth opportunities.
“We’re not going out and hiring lots and lots of people, but we will be strategic about it,” she said.
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Citigroup employs thousands of staff in London and several thousand more across the UK. Ms Lee, who joined the Wall Street lender from Deutsche Bank AG last year, said London remains a “powerhouse” for financial services and that planned reforms to markets would boost growth over the next decade.
[ Citigroup plans Irish job cuts, with 168 roles at risk in DublinOpens in new window ]
“This is like turning around an oil tanker,” said Ms Lee. “I firmly believe that over the next five to 10 years we are going to look back and say that actually what this government has done, what regulators have done, what the stock exchange has done, with regard to reforming the listing rules and the sponsor regime, will make the UK a far more competitive place to do business and to allow long-term investment decisions for our corporate clients.” – Bloomberg
