Citigroup appoints three women as MDs for its markets business in Asia

Citigroup Inc. has appointed three women as managing directors for its markets business in Asia as a part of its efforts to raise gender parity at the division.

As per a Bloomberg report, the bank appointed Laura Atherley from Nomura Holdings Inc. for its markets relationship management unit, and Julie Kerr, who was previously at Ernst & Young, as Asia-Pacific head of custody and fund services. The third candidate will be hired as early as next week, as per James Griffiths, a Hong Kong-based Citigroup spokesman, who declined to share her name.

Both Laura and Julie will be based in Hong Kong. Laura, who headed Asia-Pacific equities for the UK and Europe at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from 2002 to 2009, will manage relationships with key clients based in the city and will report directly to Bob MacDonald, head of relationship management in the region. Julie meanwhile replaces CP Yap, who left the bank. She was a partner in EY’s financial services, wealth and asset management division.

The appointments come as Citigroup aims to have an equal number of male and female managing directors at its markets division in Asia within three-to-five years, up from the current 80:20 split in favor of men. The bank created hard targets for raising the percentages of women and African Americans in management positions by 2021, as per an internal memo signed by Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat last week.

The bank plans to boost the global share of women holding positions ranging from Assistant Vice-president to Managing Director to 40 percent from the current 37 percent.

Image Credits: CNBC