London: Global lender Citigroup said it continues to be an active player in the consumer banking and institutional business in the UAE, although it has announced exit from retail business in a number of markets across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
“We have been restructuring our global portfolio of businesses with specific strategy for each of the markets we operate. We see the UAE as a market with significant growth opportunity considering factors such as the economic growth, demographics and its ability to attract global business,” said Jim Cowles, Citi EMEA CEO.
In the consumer banking business, the bank intends to focus on the affluent segment of customers who are globally oriented. “We are a global bank that has the capability to deliver our consumer banking customers services at a global scale, thus in a market like the UAE, we are not looking at every segment of customers rather we will focus on where we have competitive advantage,” Cowles said.
In the corporate and institutional business, the bank sees huge opportunity as the UAE is emerging as a regional hub for business. “We have been observing the trend of a large number of multinationals and regional businesses anchoring their regional and global operations from the UAE. Our global markets access and expertise can add great value to these customers,” he said.
Citi official said, the bank is actively supporting the local corporate sector, especially the internationally oriented UAE and Gulf-based companies. “Gulf region’s average economic growth is higher than the global growth. There has been significant growth in financing and transaction services for local, regional and international corporate entities,” he said.
As part of a global restructuring, the bank has exited retail business in a number of countries such as Turkey, Romania, Greece and Pakistan. “Post-financial crisis, a number of banks has refocused their business strategies in different markets depending on the specific requirements of these markets. At Citi we have taken the view that given our global orientation in business, if we are not a significant player in a market, we exit that line of business in that market,” he said.
In Europe, the bank sees growing opportunities in peripheral European countries such as Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain that are recovering from financial crisis. “As the recovery takes root we see new opportunities for expansion these markets. We expect significant expansion in terms of investments in personnel and balance sheet expansion in these economies,” said Cowles.
In Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa will continue to be a major focus area for Citi. Although the bank is not directly active in consumer and retail business, it sees opportunities in working closely with regional and local banks. “Sub-Saharan Africa is undoubtedly a significant growth market for us. Our focus is more on institutional business. On the consumer side we do collaborate with other banks, including white-labelling some of products through other banks,” said Cowles.
