(30 March 2021 – Hong Kong) Citigroup plans to hire 1,500 to 1,700 people in Hong Kong in anticipation of the increasing capital flow between the city and mainland China, and rising affluence in the Greater Bay Area.
“The bulk of it will be our frontline people,” said Hong Kong and Macau CEO Angel Ng Yin-yee. “We’re also cautious we need to have the right product development, digital channel development people and compliance people, so we are also ramping up the middle office and the back office.”
The Bank plans to fill most of the positions this year and also boost tech spending by 28 percent.
The expansion follows a 44 percent increase in net new money in Hong Kong and revenue increases across business units, in contrast with the Bank's global financial performance. Citigroup also helped clients raise about US$40 billion in equity and debt deals in Hong Kong last year.
One of the major Greater Bay Area opportunities is the Wealth Management Connect scheme. “This is a very creative infrastructure. It’s very innovative. Nobody has tried it before,” Ng said. “I don’t think it will be a ‘Big Bang’ opportunity to start with. It will be a pilot. It will be slow. It will be gradual. I think it opens us up into a bigger market – talking about multiples of what we have in Hong Kong – in the coming years.”