Citi headed by Jane Fraser announced that it will sell its operations in Mexico of consumer and business banking, afore, cultural heritage and real estate.
The announcement itself is surprising and impressive.
Citibanamex is the third largest in Mexico.
The sale raises a lot of questions. Even some malicious ones, such as those that suggest that it is surely because of the situation that Mexico is experiencing or because of the decisions that the government is making.
The truth is that there have been intentions and decisions that threaten and affect the financial system. Like the cap on bank commissions, which has not been approved so far, or the cap on Afore commissions, which has already entered into force.
However, and although it seems incredible, the reality is that Citi is focused on a global strategic vision and what it is announcing today that it will do in Mexico, it has already done previously in Asia and Europe.
In other words, Citi, as it is doing in other parts of the world, leaves most of its banking operations to focus on the attention of the richest rich in all parts of the world.
The firm itself was very insistent that it is a corporate decision and has nothing to do with the situation in Mexico, in addition to ensuring that the current clients of the institution do not have to have the slightest affectation.
In fact, Citi will remain and continue to invest in Mexico to serve institutional markets through its Citi Private Bank franchise, for which it will apply for a new license.
In a statement, Jane Fraser, the executive director of Citi, assured that it is a decision aligned with the new strategic vision.
Global Wealth, cream of the cream
Citi is in line with what it has done in other regions and countries around the world where it has focused on Global Wealth centers.
In fact, Citi, in January of last year, created Citi Global Wealth, headed by Jim O’Donnell, to unify its global wealth management business into a single firm.
In it, it merged the wealth management teams of its Global Consumer Banking (GCB) and Institutional Clients (ICG) businesses.
Since then it has had a single, integrated platform to serve clients across the wealth management business.
Its targets are the high net worth segment, up to those classified as Ultra High Net Worth Individuals known in English as: Ultra High-Net-Worth Individual (UHNWI).
Citi Private Bank serves more than 13,000 ultra-high net worth clients, including 25% of the world’s billionaires, and more than 1,400 family offices in 50 cities in more than 100 countries.
Citi is focusing on serving fewer but larger clients with an average net worth of more than $100 million.
package, the value
Citi made the announcement shortly after the closing of operations in the stock markets of New York and in Mexico, although it formally informed the authorities of the National Banking and Securities Commission a few days ago. It will be a package sale and will be conditional on the approval of the regulatory authorities of both the United States and Mexico.
All of the businesses that Citi would be exiting in Mexico represented approximately $3.5 billion in revenue, $1.2 billion in pre-tax earnings, $44 billion in assets, and $4 billion in average tangible capital allocated.
There is no official calculation of how much the package that is put up for sale could be sold.
When Citi bought Banamex, the operation was around 12,000 million dollars. Since then its value has grown remarkably. The buyer will most likely have to be approved by the Federal Competition Commission, which will seek to avoid excessive market concentration.
marcomaresg@gmail.com
Journalist
Rich and Powerful
He has worked uninterruptedly in newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the Internet, in the last 31 years he has specialized in business, finance and economics. He is one of the three hosts of the program Alebrijes, Águila o Sol, a program specialized in economic issues that is broadcast on Foro TV.