Citi sells onshore consumer wealth portfolio in China to HSBC Bank

Following this announcement, the clients, assets under management (AUM), and deposits that were included in the onshore consumer wealth portfolio will be sold to HSBC Bank in China. In addition, the bank is set to extend offers to in-scope employees who were supporting Citi’s local consumer wealth businesses in the region. 

The transaction covers the total of deposits and investment AUMs of approximately USD 3,6 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024, and the terms and conditions of the transactions were not disclosed by the enterprises. By exiting its customer banking business in China, Citi aims to make progress in the divestitures as part of its overall global strategy refresh.  

According to the press release, the announcement does not include the Citi institutional businesses across China. The company is set to continue to meet the needs, expectations, and demands of affluent to ultra-high net-worth Chinese individuals through its regional wealth hubs from Singapore and Hong Kong while using its International Personal Bank and Citi Private Bank businesses. 

In addition, Citi has closed sales in eight other markets around the world, including Australia, Bahrain, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, as well as Vietnam. The wind-downs of Citi’s client business in Korea and of its overall presence in Russia are in progress as well. In the future, the company will focus on pursuing an IPO of its customers, small businesses, and middle-market banking offerings and operations in Mexico.

Citi’s recent strategy of development

US-based preeminent banking partner for financial institutions and enterprises, Citi announced multiple collaborations and launches in the last couple of months, covering several geographic areas around the world. 

In September 2023, Citi launched a set of four payment services and products to its financial institution clients and customers. According to the press release published at the time, the new set of capabilities was introduced as part of Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS), and they were designed in order to optimise the overall customer experience that financial institutions extended. In addition, the four capabilities were set to be leveraged with minimal or no additional implementation work or technology built. 

The package included: expansions of the capabilities of Citi’s 24/7 USD Clearing for financial institutions, the ability to initiate payments in over 70 currencies from a single USD account, access to Swift Go, as well as the Confirmed Value Transfer (CVT) feature.

Earlier in August 2023, the company made an investment in Rextie, a Peru-based fintech specialised in FX services. At the same time, Citi also integrated its FX technology into the latter’s currency exchange suite of solutions, aiming to improve the overall customer experience by meeting their needs, preferences, and demands.

Rextie’s customers and users were given the possibility to benefit from automation, real-time payments, optimised rates, as well as improved liquidity through the integration of CitiFX Pulse and Instant Payments.