New York, N.Y., USA - July 7, 2009, New York, N.Y., USA - Citigroup appointed Stephen Bird and Shirish Apte as Asia-Pacific chief executives, Shengman Zhang as chairman of Asia Pacific, Bill Mills and Alberto Verme as chief executive officers of EMEA.
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Mr. Bird was most recently Chief Executive Officer for North Asia and Head of Consumer Banking and Global Cards for Asia Pacific.
He joined Citi in 1998 and has previously served in Japan as CEO for Credit Cards and Consumer Finance, and as Head of Operations and Technology for the entire Latin America franchise having moved there from Asia Pacific in 2001.
Prior to joining Citi, Mr. Bird held senior management positions in GE Capital and British Steel in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Apte moves to Asia Pacific after guiding Citi in some of the fastest-growing emerging markets as Chief Executive Officer of Citi's Central & Eastern European Region.
Mr. Apte has served in several senior management roles in more than 26 years with Citi, including as CEO of Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEEMEA) Citi Markets & Banking.
He began his career with Citi as a Relationship Banker for Citibank India, and later held various assignments in Corporate Banking, Risk Management and Corporate Finance Investment Banking.
Mr. Zhang had previously served as Vice Chairman of Global Banking and President of Asia Pacific after joining Citi in February 2006 as Vice Chairman of Global Banking and Chairman of the Public Sector Group.
He possesses extensive experience in the industry, including 10 years with the World Bank, with four as the Managing Director from 2001 to 2005. In that role, he led the Bank’s day-to-day worldwide operations.
Mr. Zhang chaired the Bank’s Operations Committee, the Sanctions Committee, and the Corporate Committee on Fraud and Corruption Policy, and was the Chairman of the Bank Group’s Crisis Management Committee.
Mr. Mills was most recently CEO for Western Europe, Middle East and Africa.
He previously held the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Citi Markets & Banking for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Prior to that, he was Chief Executive Officer of Salomon Smith Barney Asia Pacific and a member of the Salomon Smith Barney Management Committee.
In this role, he was responsible for the Firm’s Investment Banking, Equity, Fixed Income, Private Client services, and other operations conducted in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Sub-Continent for the Firm. Mr. Mills has been with Citi for 27 years.
Mr. Verme was most recently Co-Head of Global Investment Banking, based in Dubai. Prior to that appointment in 2008, he was Head of Global Energy, Power and Chemicals Investment Banking from 2001. ■