Citigroup gathers force for expansion

Key executives of the Citigroup empire form a ‘European Advisory Board’. Roxane McMeeken reports.

Citigroup Private Bank is plotting a renewed assault on the European market. Peter Scaturro, chief executive of the bank, revealed that a new European Advisory Board has been formed to lead the charge. The board brings together key personalities across the Citigroup empire and aims to bring the group’s wider capabilities, such as investment banking, to the private bank’s European clientele. The members will research the needs of European clients and develop new products based on their findings. The board consists of Mr Scaturro; Win Bichoff, chairman of Citigroup Europe; Michael Kleme, chief executive for EMEA global corporate and investment bank; and Frances Aldrich Sevilla-Sacasa, who has replaced Christopher Preston as Latin America and Europe region head of the private bank. “The idea is to ensure private banking clients have access to our traditional capabilities but we also want to act as a boutique within the broader group, offering them access to Citigroup’s FX capabilities and its corporate and investment banks,” said Mr Scaturro. “Many of our clients are entrepreneurs or have family businesses. They therefore might want to sell their business or expand it through acquisitions. Some families need liquidity, others need access to capital markets.” Citigroup PB plans to grow its revenues by 20 per cent a year in Europe, according to Mr Scaturro. In the year to Q3 2003, its revenue was $516m, up 21 per cent on the previous year. He said this would be possible thanks to his organisation’s stability, global presence and access to resources. Ms Frances said that Citigroup would concentrate exclusively on ultra high net worth investors in Europe – “one to two hundred top families in Europe”. She added that the bank would not compete at the local level. Rather it would offer global capabilities with many customers retaining a local provider or broker. An analytics system for European clients is also in the pipeline.

Scaturro: 20 per cent growth in Europe