Citigroup boosts Hong Kong team to support mainland Chinese companies’ global expansion
Wall Street bank strengthens advisory services team as it targets mid-sized companies with specialised banking services
The US bank is hiring selectively, especially for advisory services, while grooming its existing bankers to specialise and focus on industries it has identified, said Joy Cheng, head of Citi Commercial Bank for Hong Kong.
“We make sure we provide our people with the specialty and all the market intelligence,” said Cheng, who assumed the role in February. “We are also hiring people that have corporate finance expertise to work with our investment bank.”
Such expertise is crucial to the bank’s strategy to engage with medium-sized companies – those with US$10 million to US$3 billion in sales – early on by supporting their needs such as treasury management, trade finance, capital raising, initial public offerings, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
“Our focus is on offering banking products and services to mid-sized corporates that are looking for support with their international or global expansion plan or with their strategic growth objectives,” said Cheng. “The access to our full product platforms, including advisory and support from our investment bank, differentiates us from many of our competitors.”
Citigroup was among the top five banks in terms of global investment banking revenue in the first nine months of this year, according to data compiled by Dealogic.
