As reported by The Asset on June 25 on the leading candidates to succeed Banga, who left Citi to become president and CEO of MasterCard, Shirish Apte will be responsible for Southern Asia, while Stephen Bird will cover Northern Asia. The two will have joint responsibilities for the overall performance, strategy and execution in the region.
Apte, 56, is moving to Asia after guiding Citi in some of the fastest-growing emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe. He started his career with Citi more than 26 years ago as a relationship banker for Citibank India and later held various positions in corporate banking, risk management and corporate finance investment banking.
Bird, 42, was most recently CEO for North Asia and head of consumer banking and global cards for Asia-Pacific. He joined Citi in 1998 after holding senior positions in GE Capital and British Steel in the UK.
In other appointments, Shengman Zhang was named chairman for Asia-Pacific with responsibility for forging and expanding relationships with clients, regulators, government officials and employees across the region.
William Mills, who was also in the running for the Asia-Pacific top job, was appointed CEO for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) together Alberto Verme. Mills was most recently CEO for Western Europe, Middle East and Africa, while Verme was previously co-head of global investment banking, based in Dubai.
