Citi announced the completion of the sale and migration of its Taiwan consumer businesses to the Singapore bank DBS in an Aug. 14 press release. The agreement, originally disclosed in January 2022, includes retail banking, credit cards, mortgages, and unsecured lending and involves the relocation of approximately 3,000 staff members to DBS's domain, a Citi release said.
"As we conclude the sale of our consumer business in Taiwan, we remain committed to growing our market-leading institutional franchise and supporting clients in the market and across the region through our global network,” Peter Babej, Citi Asia Pacific CEO, said.
The transaction is expected to bring Citi a regulatory capital benefit of $1.2 billion.
“We are sincerely grateful to our former employees for their steadfast commitment to clients and are confident that they’ll have a great future with DBS. We have made significant progress in executing Citi’s strategy, and completing this transaction is another important step forward in simplifying the firm,” Titi Cole, Citi Legacy Franchises CEO, said in the press release.
Citi's institutional client business in Taiwan is not included in the sale. Citi is exiting the consumer banking business in 14 markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Mexico and has completed those withdrawals in Australia, Bahrain, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and now Taiwan, the release said. Previously announced exits from consumer banking in China and Korea and from its overall presence in Russia are underway, the company said.