Citi names Pakistani banking veteran new PH country chief

Aftab Ahmed to be new Citi PH country chief effective July 15

AMERICAN banking giant Citi has named a Pakistani banking veteran as the new country chief for the Philippines.

Effective July 15 this year, Aftab Ahmed – who has had banking experience for the last 39 years – will be the new Citi country officer for the Philippines, replacing Indonesian banker Batara Sianturi, who is moving back to his homeland to serve as country head for Indonesia.

Ahmed will assume his new role upon regulatory approvals, and will be responsible for all Citi businesses across the franchise in the Philippines. He will report to Michael Zink, Head of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and Citi Country Officer for Singapore.

This will be Ahmed’s third country chief appointment in his nearly four decades of international career with Citi. He is currently the country chief for Citi in Hungary and concurrently region head for Hungary and the Balkan and Baltic Regions in Central and Eastern Europe. Prior to this, he was country chief for Citi in Egypt.

“The Philippines is an important market for Citi and we are pleased to welcome Aftab as the new country head. As a 39-year veteran Citibanker, he has vast experience in banking around the world and will play a critical role in protecting and leading the Citi franchise in the Philippines. Aftab will also be a great addition to the ASEAN leadership team,” Zinc said in a press statement on Tuesday.

Ahmed will manage the corporate and consumer banking businesses as well as oversee service centers for Citi in the Philippines.

The incoming country chief has worked for Citi in 10 countries across North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. His broad breadth of experience covers multiple
disciplines including business banking, corporate banking, correspondent banking, consumer banking, distribution, operation and technology (O&T) and treasury.

Ahmed has held a number of senior roles on the country level at Citi including consumer business manager for Pakistan, corporate bank head in New Zealand, and O&T head for Citibank in both Taiwan and Germany. He has also held senior cluster and regional roles including director of retail branch expansion and operations for Citibank North America, consumer finance head for Asia Pacific and consumer cluster head for Pakistan, Middle East and Egypt.

He started his career with Citi as an executive trainee after getting an MBA from
Tulane University in New Orleans, U.S.A.

Citi, which has been present in the Philippines since 1902, is the largest foreign bank in
the country. It is consistently ranked among the top 10 commercial banks and has over 7,000 employees in the country.