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Indian all set to head Citibank

J M Shenoy

Victor Menezes, one of the most respected names in the banking industry and currently the president of Citibank, one of the largest financial services in the world, will become its chairman and chief executive next month. Citigroup Inc made the announcement about the change in its banking arm on Tuesday. The current chairman and co-chief executive of the bank, John Reed, is retiring.

Pune-born Menezes, 50, who according to an article in The Wall Street Journal, has remarkably survived Citibank's 'notoriously brutal corporate culture,' could in a few years succeed Standford Weill who is slated to become Citigroup's sole chairman. Weill has said he plans to step down by the company's annual meeting in 2002.

"His extensive international experience, global perspective and financial expertise make him uniquely suited to assume this position," Weill said in a statement.

The Journal article said Menezes's quiet, no-nonsense style of functioning has helped him rise 'through the ranks while flashier peers have left -- often after Mr Reed showed them the door.'

"He has been able to succeed in a political minefield," T Lee Pomeroy II, a consultant at executive recruiter Egon Zehnder International, was quoted in the Journal article. "But he does it without any overt sense of politics. He's very cool under pressure."

Menezes will continue in his position as co-chief executive officer of the global corporate and investment bank and as Citigroup's regional business executive for emerging markets.

Menezes, who has an electrical engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai and a master of science in finance and economics from the Sloan School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been with the bank for nearly 28 years, working in its international corporate banking units.

In an interview with an IIT alumni publication two years ago, he said the people who inspired him most are his father, Manuel, a former chairman of the Indian Railways, who was his inspiration to join IIT. His mother Nina, wife Tara, and John Reed made up the rest of the list.

What did he value most from IIT?

"A combination of pretty hard work ... rigorous work, and connecting with a variety of people from different backgrounds and cultures," he said. "IIT was clearly an important experience in my life in learning to deal with a variety of people which is critical in the world of business today."

Menezes, who had worked for about a year in Mumbai before migrating to America, began his career in corporate banking in Asia, with responsibilities for India, Hong Kong, Macao and the People's Republic of China. In 1985 he became Citibank's senior corporate officer for Latin America and Africa.

Four years later, he became head of the European consumer business, and two years later his responsibilities were extended to include consumer banking in the United States. In 1995 he was named chief financial officer of Citicorp, then Citibank's parent company.

He says continuing to work to keep the bank above a number of crises in Hong Kong and South America have been some of his most challenging missions.

What lessons has he mined from his success?

"It gives you the confidence to deal with situations and come up with solutions," he has said. "It doesn't set you free since you end up working more."

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