Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) to Add 13 new Asia Desks by 2012

Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) is planning to increase the number of Asian desks that it has outside the region from 13 to 26 by 2012, with many of the new desks being located in Africa and Latin America, as the New York-based bank hopes to keep up with the increasing globalization of its Asian clients, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Citigroup currently has Asia desks in New York, London, Sao Paulo, Moscow and Johannesburg, which offer investment banking and corporate banking services to subsidiaries of Asian parented companies. The Wall Street Journal said that these services can include derivatives, treasury services, lending, and advisory services. The report said that most of the desks are focused on China, but Japan has seen an increase in focus during the last couple of years.

“The Japan rollout has seen our revenues with Japanese multinational companies double in the last couple of years. We want to expand this success further with our Asian clients,” Citigroup global banking head for the Asia Pacific Farhan Faruqui in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

He added that Citi is hiring staff for these new planned service desks and is also moving staff from Asia to emerging markets such as Latina America and Africa. Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) currently has a presence in 16 African markets and hopes to open new desks in additional countries during the next several months, Faruqui added.

Citigroup Inc. (Citigroup) is a global diversified financial services holding company. The Company provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a range of financial products and services. As of December 31, 2009, Citigroup had approximately 200 million customer accounts and did business in more than 140 countries. Citigroup operates through two primary business segments: Citicorp, consisting of its Regional Consumer Banking (RCB) businesses and Institutional Clients Group (ICG), and Citi Holdings, consisting of its Brokerage and Asset Management (BAM), Local Consumer Lending (LCL), and Special Asset Pool (SAP). In April 2010, Barclays PLC acquired Italian credit card business of Citibank International Bank plc. In May 2010, the Company announced the creation of a new Collateral Management Services unit within its Securities and Fund Services business.

Shares of Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) traded flat at $3.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday.