Citigroup bankers in Italy reportedly defect to rival Pictet

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Citigroup bankers in Italy reportedly defect to rival Pictet
www.marketwatch.com - By MarketWatch - April 25, 2005


LONDON - Half the relationship managers in Citigroup Inc.'s private banking unit in Italy have defected to rival bank Pictet Group, a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires Monday.

Three weeks ago, Luca Toniutti, managing director of Citigroup Private Bank's Italian unit based in Milan and head of Citigroup in Italy, resigned with plans to take up a senior role at Pictet, said the person.

Thursday night three more relationship managers said they were leaving Citigroup for Pictet. Relationship managers are appointed to individual clients to advise them on financial matters.

Pictet spokesman Frank Renggli declined to comment.

After the departures, Citigroup Private Bank will have only three relationship managers in Italy.

"We are very disappointed by the departure of these bankers, but we don't anticipate any decline in the service we provide to our clients," said a spokesman for Citigroup Private Bank in London. "Italy will continue to be a very important market for us."

Citigroup is one of four banks that Italian regulators have accused of helping to conceal the financial situation at Parmalat, the bankrupt Italian dairy group beset by a fraud scandal.

Tonuitti was chief country officer for Citigroup in Italy from 2002, as well as heading the private bank's operations.

Filippo Arena, another relationship manager, will take on the role vacated by Toniutti in the private bank, while Giuliano Malacarne has been named chief country officer.

Pictet is a European private bank based in Geneva. It has about 1,800 staff and manages over CHF207 billion in assets, according to its Web site. Half of its clients are institutional investors such as pension funds.

Private banks are typically standalone banks or units of larger banks that provide investment advice and make investments on behalf of wealthy individuals or families - usually with at least $1 million to invest.

Citigroup has been operating in Italy since 1962, and has about 1,200 employees in the country, providing corporate and investment banking, private banking, asset management and consumer services.

Globally, Citigroup Private Bank manages $224 billion. It doesn't publish how much it has in assets under management by country.