Citi has appointed Viswas (“Vis”) Raghavan as head of banking and executive vice-chair.

Reporting to chief executive officer Jane Fraser, he will lead one of Citi’s five core businesses, with responsibility for investment, corporate and commercial banking globally.

In his role as executive vice-chair, Raghavan will help shape and drive Citi’s firm-wide strategy and assist with key strategic initiatives. He will join Citi’s executive management team and serve on the board of Citi Foundation.

Raghavan will start work this summer. Peter Babej, chair and interim head of banking, has agreed to assist with the transition before retiring from Citi as previously announced.

Raghavan is joining Citi from J.P. Morgan, where he was most recently head of global investment banking. He previously served as co-head of global investment and corporate banking since 2020. Prior to that, he was appointed head of EMEA investment and corporate banking and treasury services in 2012.

In addition to his global banking responsibilities, he was also CEO of J.P. Morgan in EMEA since 2017, working with the bank's senior country officers and business heads to deliver for clients across all lines of business in the region. He first joined J.P. Morgan in 2000 and held senior roles in debt and equity capital markets globally.

‘Pivotal moment’

In a “note to colleagues”, Fraser says Raghavan’s appointment is “another example of our ability to attract the best talent to our firm”.

“Vis is the right person to take over at this pivotal moment for our banking franchise,” she says. “Since first announcing the structural changes last year that established our banking and international organization, we have begun to operate more efficiently and have strong momentum with clients.

“The experience Vis brings in banking and as EMEA CEO makes him the perfect partner to lead the cluster and banking heads across our global network alongside Ernesto Torres Cantú, head of international. He will also work closely with David Livingstone and our vice-chairs in the client organization to ensure we are delivering a consistent and disciplined client strategy.”

Fraser adds: “I’d like to express my sincere appreciation to Peter for his excellent leadership of banking since September. The strong franchise that Vis will take over upon his arrival is a credit to Peter as well as Ernesto and the entire banking and international leadership team.”

Raghavan grew up in India and earned a BSc degree in physics from The University of Bombay and holds a BSc honours degree in electronic engineering and computer science from Aston University (Birmingham, UK), from where he also received an honorary doctorate. He is a chartered accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.