Citi ramps up ASEAN banking team with 30 hires over past year

SINGAPORE, July 16 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc C.N said it
has hired about 30 bankers over the past year across its
banking, capital markets and advisory teams in the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), spurred by
robust growth in its ASEAN banking business.
Countries in the bloc such as Vietnam and Thailand are
benefiting from the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade war as companies
start to shift supply chains to Southeast Asia to escape
tit-for-tat tariffs that the world's two biggest economies are
imposing on each other's goods and services.
"We are seeing growth across local ASEAN companies
increasingly going global," David Biller, head of Citigroup's
ASEAN banking, capital markets and advisory team, said in a
statement on Tuesday.
"On the inbound, global multinational companies are
increasingly investing in ASEAN and the supply chain shift
through many ASEAN countries is leading to increased
opportunities for Citi's ASEAN banking network," said
Singapore-based Biller.
The hires include bankers in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam
and Malaysia – some of Citigroup's fastest-growing markets in
the Asia-Pacific region.
On Monday, Citigroup topped expectations for quarterly
profit as a tight lid on costs and strength in consumer lending
helped it counter weakness in its trading business.
However, corporate lending was 9% lower than the
year-earlier period and Citigroup's chief financial officer told
reporters that the bank's loans to corporate clients in Asia
were down about 5%, partly because of aggressive pricing by
competitors, but also because of "some of the trade tensions".
Citigroup's revenue from supporting clients in intra-Asian
trade corridors rose 18% in the first half. As economic growth
slows in developed economies, global banks are stepping up their
presence in Southeast Asia, attracted by strong regional trade
flows.
Over the past year, Citi advised LafargeHolcim Ltd LHN.S
on the sale of businesses in Indonesia and Philippines and was a
joint global co-ordinator for Vinhomes JSC's VHM.HM $1.35
billion share issue in May 2018.

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Citigroup profit beats estimates on gains in consumer lending
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