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07
Jun
CitiFX has record volume; Award winning QuantumFX handles it

CitiFX saw record levels of activity on Thursday, 06JUN2013 in terms of the number of trades processed, surpassing the previous record set on 23MAY2013. The average daily number of tickets processed in June is 20% higher than in May. In annualized terms, 60% more tickets are going through the system than a year ago. Turnover in JPY accounted for 43% of the tickets generated on 06JUN2013

“While the focus tends to be on front-end efficiency, it has to be remembered that if the back end of the deal chain cannot cope with the number of deals that have been transacted, then the whole system will grind to a halt
,” said Stuart Riley, Global Head of IT for CitiFX

“The number of tickets generated is at levels that were almost unimaginable just two years ago. We’ve had to plan very carefully and ensure that our systems are scalable to cope with these demands. That is a serious challenge for most institutions,” he added.

It may be recalled here that Citi implemented Quantum FX last year. Quantum FX is Foreign Exchange Back Office system using in-memory data processing spread across parallel servers built using open source Java components running on Linux and on a high performance framework reused from equities front office.

Quantum FX got the following award and recognition in Banking Technology Awards 2012 in Dec 2012. It was published in Banking Technology magazine Jan/Feb 2013 issue.
1. Citi won in The Judged category Best use of Technology in Investment Banking
2. Polaris Financial Technology was Highly Commended in the The Readers Choice Category Best Post Trade Processing Product or Service

CitiFX Wire, the bank’s in-house news and information service, also enjoyed a record day in terms of articles read. “We have a constant flow of information being published in real time from our staff around the world. Clients are increasingly reading this to help with their trading decisions, and also to find out why the markets are moving. There is a clear correlation between market activity and the number of hits we see on CitiFX Wire content,” said Riley.

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08
Apr
ECB warns risk in correspondent banking

European Central Bank has published for the first time its regular Survey on Correspondent Banking in Euro. A total of eight surveys have been carried out since 1999 in order to monitor the importance, size and development of correspondent banking.

The survey confirmed that correspondent banking remains an important channel for effecting payments in euro. The total daily turnover of euro transactions settled through correspondent banking arrangements averaged more than €1.1 trillion.

The survey also confirmed the growing concentration in correspondent banking, with the largest four correspondent banks representing more than 80% of the total value turnover. This warrants the attention of payment system overseers, as disruption in any of the larger and most interconnected correspondent banks could quickly spillover to interdependent payment systems. Besides operational risk, liquidity and credit risks also pose a significant threat in correspondent banking business, with intraday credit exposures normally being uncollateralised.

Closer cooperation between overseers and banking supervisors could better ensure that potential risks in correspondent banking are covered uniformly throughout the euro area. The prospective transfer of supervision of euro area credit institutions to the ECB is likely to facilitate such closer cooperation.

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07
Jan
Citi CEO Mike Corbat announces his Management Team

Citi CEO Mike Corbat today announced the roles and responsibilities of the members of his management team and appointed Jamie Forese and Manuel Medina-Mora as Co-Presidents of Citi. Mr. Forese will be responsible for all of Citi’s Institutional businesses, and Mr. Medina-Mora will continue to oversee Global Consumer Banking and Citi’s franchise in Mexico.

The Operations & Technology functions supporting the Institutional and Consumer businesses will now directly report to Mr. Forese and Mr. Medina-Mora, respectively, to better align the functions with the priorities of each business and improve efficiency.

Below are the team member roles

  • Jamie Forese and Manuel Medina-Mora will become Co-Presidents. Jamie will now be responsible for each of citi’s Institutional businesses and Manuel will continue to oversee Global Consumer Banking and franchise in Mexico. Manuel and Jamie have both been part of Citi and its predecessor companies for their entire careers.
  • Operations & Technology is reorganized. The divisions supporting the Institutional and Consumer businesses will now report to Jamie and Manuel, respectively, while working closely with Don Callahan. This change is to better align the priorities and strengthen accountability between client-facing businesses and their support function as Citi continues its efforts to become a fully digital bank and improve efficiency through the organization. As Head of O&T, Don will continue to directly manage Enterprise O&T function and be responsible for all shared infrastructure and for ensuring systems are regulatory-compliant.
  • Jim Cowles will become CEO of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Jim is a Citi veteran who has spent much of his career in EMEA and has worked with Mike Corbat very closely last year
  • Bill Mills, in addition to serving as CEO of North America, will now oversee Community Development as well as International Franchise Management, in which role he will have responsibility for corporate governance in 101 countries.
  • Francisco Aristeguieta, CEO of Latin America, and Stephen Bird, CEO of Asia Pacific, will continue in their current roles as we execute a strategy that leverages citi’s unique footprint in the emerging markets.
  • John Gerspach will continue to be Chief Financial Officer, and will spearhead Expense Management, Enterprise Payments and Citi Ventures initiatives as well.
  • Brian Leach will be taking on responsibility for additional functions which safeguard Citi’s license to do business. As Head of Franchise Risk and Strategy, he will now oversee Audit, Compliance and Strategy. Brad Hu, currently Head of Risk for Asia Pacific, will become Citi’s Chief Risk Officer and report to Brian.
  • Gene McQuade will continue to serve as CEO of Citibank, N.A., while overseeing Citi Holdings and Japan.
  • Ed Skyler, Head of Public Affairs, will oversee the Citi Foundation in addition to his current responsibilities, which include Branding & Sponsorships, Communications, and Government Affairs.
  • Paul McKinnon, Head of Human Resources, and Rohan Weerasinghe, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, will both continue to serve in their respective positions.
  • Sara Wechter will serve as Chief of Staff.
  • Vice Chairman Lew Kaden after more than seven years with the firm, plans to retire in the coming weeks. Lew, who was previously Chief Administrative Officer, helped guide Citi through some difficult times, while strengthening its relationships with clients and governments.
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