Citigroup Appoints New Head Of Asia Pacific Business

American multinational financial services corporation Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) has appointed Peter Babej as the new chief executive officer of its Asia Pacific region, a memo sent to staff by Citi global CEO Mike Corbat shows. Babej previously served as the bank’s global head of financial institutions group.

He joined Citi in 2010 to co-head the company’s financial institutions group, following stints at Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) and asset management and financial advisory firm Lazard.

What Happened

Babej will replace Francisco Aristeguieta, who joined custodian bank State Street Corp (NYSE: STT) to head the bank’s international business earlier this year. According to Reuters, a Citi spokesperson in Hong Kong confirmed Babej’s new appointment. He will be relocating from New York to Hong Kong for this position.

Babej is familiar with the Asian financial sector, having participated in several Asia-centered merger and acquisition deals, Corbat wrote in the memo.

“He will draw on his deep knowledge of the financial services landscape in Asia, where we continue to see great opportunities, including fast-growing digital adoption,” Corbat said in the memo.

Why It Matters

The announcement comes after Citi reported better-than-expected revenue and earnings for the third quarter. Strong results in the U.S. bank’s trading arm made up for weaker lending margins. The company said earned $1.97 per share on revenue of $18.60 billion during the quarter. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.95 per share on a top-line figure of $18.545 billion.

The Asia Pacific region is currently Citi’s second-largest business area in terms of revenue. The group’s latest SEC filing shows that the region brought in roughly $4 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30, just over 21% of the total third-quarter top-line. Citi earned about $1.255 billion of its $4.799 billion third-quarter net income from Asia Pacific.