Citigroup announces Loretta Ko as the head of the financial institutions group (FIG) in Hong Kong

Citigroup
(NYSE: C) announced on Wednesday that it has hired Loretta Ko to head the
investment bank’s financial institutions group (FIG) located in Hong Kong. The
executive has recently served as the head at Banco Santander. Other credentials
on Ko’s portfolio include working for Standard Chartered and ANZ in Hong Kong.

Loretta
Ko has also worked with Citigroup in the past for 15 years from 1989 to 2004.
Citigroup’s officials, Joy Cheng and Valentin Garger, commented on Wednesday’s
announcement and highlighted that the move is directed at helping the
investment bank improve its market share in terms of FIG transactions in Hong
Kong.

Citigroup
Aims At Improving Women Representation At Executive Positions

In
its statement on Tuesday, Citigroup said:

“Hong
Kong financial institutions (group) is a significant and growing part of
Corporate Banking in the country as well as a critical contributor to the
broader Asia Pacific financial institutions franchise.”

The
investment bank had recently declared its target of having 40% of its executive
positions from assistant vice president level to managing directors across the
globe, represented by women. The bank has a deadline of 2021 to hit the
aforementioned target.

As
per a Citigroup spokesman, 39% of such positions at Citigroup are currently
represented by women in Asia. Towards the end of last year, Citigroup promoted
14 of its women executives to managing directors in Asia. The bank named 45 new
directors in the region among which 31% were reported to be women. In 2018,
Citigroup only had eight women directors in Asia.

At
the time of writing, Citigroup is exchanging hands at $54.0 per share in the
stock market that translates to over 30% decline in 2020 so far. Its
performance in 2019, on the contrary, was reported largely upbeat with an
annual gain of more than 50%. Share prices were seen at around $52.0 in January
2019 while the stock closed the year at a significantly higher $80.0 per share
in December. Citigroup currently has a market cap of $117.08 billion.

HSBC
Promotes Mark Wang To The New CEO Of The Bank’s China Division

In
similar news from the banking sector, HSBC (NYSE: HSBC) also announced its
latest change in senior management on Wednesday as it promoted
Mark Wang to the new CEO of the bank’s China division. Wang
is currently the head of HSBC’s investment banking unit in China. The current
CEO for HSBC China, David Liao, will be offered a different senior position at
the investment bank, as per the sources.