Citi hires banking head from JPMorgan amid reshuffle at both lenders

Reuters

Published Feb 26, 2024 08:12AM ET

Updated Feb 26, 2024 06:01PM ET

By Tatiana Bautzer and Nupur Anand

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Citigroup appointed Viswas Raghavan as its new head of banking from JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), where there has been a management reshuffle and business reorganization, according to the banks' memos seen by Reuters on Monday.

Raghavan will report to Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and is expected to join in the summer, Fraser wrote in an internal memo.

Raghavan most recently served as JPMorgan's head of global investment banking.

JPMorgan named Doug Petno and Filippo Gori as co-heads of global banking, reorganizing the business as it announced Raghavan's departure, according to a bank memo.

In January, JPMorgan shuffled executives in its investment banking and consumer units, giving them more experience running different businesses as Wall Street focuses on succession plans for CEO Jamie Dimon.

Meanwhile, Citigroup is going through its largest reorganization in decades, streamlining its structure into five main businesses whose leaders report directly to the CEO.

Raghavan is a "proven leader and his appointment is another example of our ability to attract the best talent to our firm," Fraser wrote.

Peter Babej, Citi's interim head of banking, will stay in the transitional role until he retires later this year.

"This is a core change with positive chain reactions throughout the firm, in our view, Citi is dropping outdated management structures that go back decades," Mike Mayo, analyst at Wells Fargo said in a note, adding that hiring Raghavan shows additional effort to restructure.

Fraser has brought in new leadership to help with the overhaul, including Andy Sieg, who joined from Bank of America to run the wealth division in September.

Citi will also reduce its workforce by 20,000 employees in the next two years.

Raghavan was recently promoted to head of global investment banking at JPMorgan after serving as a co-head since 2020. He previously led investment and corporate banking in Europe, Middle East and Asia.

In his new role, Raghavan will work alongside Ernesto Torres Cantú, Citi's head of international, and David Livingstone, who leads its newly created client division, Fraser wrote.

Revenue at Citi's banking division rose by 22% to $949 million last quarter. At JPMorgan, corporate and investment-banking revenue increased 3% to $11 billion while commercial banking revenue increased by 7% to $3.7 billion in the fourth quarter.