KUALA LUMPUR (May 22): News of Citigroup Inc selling its consumer banking assets in 13 markets — including Malaysia — caught many by surprise. For Citi Malaysia — with a new chief in the driving seat and a major structural shift on the cards — what is the game plan? 

In The Edge Malaysia weekly this week, Usman Ahmed sheds light on what is ahead for Citi Malaysia, in his first exclusive interview as its CEO. 

The veteran banker has had to grapple managing a corporation in the midst of a tough operation landscape that has been upended by the Covid-19 pandemic — just like all leaders are facing globally — and on top of that, Usman’s entry into Malaysia also happened just days after an Emergency was declared in the country.

Additionally, just 2.5 months into the top job here effective Feb 1, a major shift in business direction was announced that will impact Citi Malaysia structurally, putting the spotlight on the new chief and the banking group.  

“I’d say it’s definitely the most eventful first quarter I’ve had in a new role!” Usman says, laughing. 

He talks about Citi Malaysia’s strategies and plans for the way forward in the midst of a continued “complex” macro environment globally as well as locally, coupled with an eventual structural shift.  

Against this backdrop, Usman insists that Citi Malaysia’s mission and strategy remain the same — that is focused on serving customers well today across all client segments.

In the interview, Usman also addressed the topic on everyone’s minds when it comes to Citi today — the asset divestment of sale of retail banking assets in 13 markets across the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the Middle East, including Malaysia. 

“With respect to the announcements that have been made, it’s a lot of work right now, we are focused on making sure that first and foremost we are maintaining full-fledged consumer banking operations as normal... We want to see that our employees, customers are fully taken care of during and after the process has concluded,” Usman says.

“We remain strongly committed to the country…. We remain focused on ensuring a completely normal consumer banking operation, it has never been any other way since we made the announcement... But I think people sometimes perceive that things might change immediately... There is no change,” he assures.  

Read more in this week’s edition of The Edge Malaysia weekly.

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