Citi hires Viswas Raghavan as new banking head

Citigroup has appointed Viswas Raghavan as its new head of banking.

Raghavan spent over two decades at JPMorgan and was recently appointed as head of global investment banking.

He is expected to join Citigroup in the summer and will replace Peter Babej, who is due to retire later this year.

Raghavan will report to Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, who praised him as “the perfect partner” and “the right person to take over at this pivotal moment for our banking franchise”.

Citigroup is going through a major reorganisation and plans to reduce its workforce by 20,000 employees in the next two years.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan has named Doug Petno and Filippo Gori as co-heads of global banking following Raghavan’s exit.

Raghavan has more than two decades of corporate finance experience.

He joined JPMorgan in 2000 and previously held senior roles in the lender’s debt and equity capital markets businesses, while running investment banking in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

He was recently promoted to head of global investment banking after serving as a co-head since 2020.

The top banking figure is known for his straight-talking and has been described as being friendly, approachable and articulate.

He predicted 2024 was going to be a “choppy year” with a lot of volatility, citing highly unpredictable geopolitical factors, such as political changes, considering half the world's economies are heading into elections.

Raghavan grew up in India and earned a BSc degree 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.