Citigroup looks to build up in digital assets space

Citigroup has promoted Puneet Singhvi to head of digital assets for its institutional clients group (ICG) and in his new role  Singhvi will work with his team to provide expertise and outline a strategy for how the different businesses inside Citigroup’s ICG will use blockchain and digital assets, said Bloomberg. According to media reports, the appointment comes as the company looks to set up a new digital assets unit to boost its expertise in blockchain, digital assets and digital currencies. 

Meanwhile, Shobhit Maini and Vasant Viswanathan will replace Singhvi as co-heads of blockchain and digital assets, reporting to Biswarup Chatterjee, head of innovation for that division.

At the same time, Citigroup also plans to hire 100 staff. According to ST, the roles will be based in Singapore, London, New York and Tel Aviv, which are strategic locations for Citi's ICG business and technology, as well as talent hubs for blockchain and digital asset expertise.  The hiring push comes as Citigroup plans to study the markets in the digital-asset space, as well as the evolving regulatory landscape and associated risks, before offering any products and services to its clients, Bloomberg reported. 

Separately, Citigroup went on a hiring spree earlier in April as well, as it sought to add around 2,300 employees in its Hong Kong and Singapore markets, including 1,100 relationship managers and private bankers. This came following the launch of its consumer wealth business, City Global Wealth, according to ST.

At the same time, the company had also exit from 13 markets for its consumer banking operations in the Asia and EMEA regions, to focus on its presence on Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE and London. According to Citigroup, the restructure was part of an "ongoing strategic review" and will allow the Citi to direct investments and resources to the businesses where it has the greatest scale and growth potential. The affected markets were: Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Korea, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, and Taiwan. Citigroup’s institutional clients group will continue to serve clients in these markets, which the company said "remain important to Citi’s global network". 

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