Citigroup to Move Asia-Pacific Co-CEO to Singapore

Citigroup Inc. will move its co- chief executive officer for the Asia-Pacific region, Shirish Apte, to Singapore from Hong Kong to oversee operations in South Asia.

Apte, 57, will continue to have responsibility for Australia, India and the ASEAN countries, Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit said in a memo to employees that was obtained by Bloomberg News. Citigroup spokesman Richard Tesvich confirmed the document’s contents, declining to comment further.

The bank appointed Apte as co-CEO for Asia-Pacific together with Stephen Bird in July 2009. Bird will remain in Hong Kong to focus on China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, according to the memo.

“With this move, we will have our two Asia-Pacific leaders in the two important focal points for our business -- Hong Kong and Singapore,” Pandit wrote in the memo.

Citigroup opened 33 retail branches in Asia in this year’s first nine months, boosting the total to more than 700, the document showed. The bank in April named Michael Zink, president of Guangdong Development Bank, to lead its Singapore operations.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cathy Chan in Hong Kong at kchan14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Philip Lagerkranser at lagerkranser@bloomberg.net