Citi names Lekkas and Frowein to head new European dealmaking unit

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Citigroup has promoted two senior dealmakers to lead a key part of its European investment bank in the latest shake-up at the Wall Street lender.

Linos Lekkas and Patrick Frowein have been named co-heads of Citigroup’s banking, capital markets and advisory unit in Europe, excluding France, Italy and Ireland, according to an internal memo sent to staff seen by Financial News.

This is a new group for Citi and will comprise around 50% of its investment banking fee pool in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the memo from Emea BCMA co-heads Nacho Gutiérrez-Orrantia and Jens Welter and European cluster head Kristine Braden said.

READ How Citigroup’s top European dealmakers are gunning for the ‘gold medal’ in turbulent market

Citigroup hired Frowein from Deutsche Bank last year as vice-chair of its investment bank in Emea. He had previously co-headed Deutsche’s investment banking business in Emea, but was latterly chair of the unit in the region.

Lekkas joined Citigroup from Bank of America in 2011, and was latterly head of is central and eastern European dealmaking business.

“We will be leveraging their combined experience to grow the franchise,” the memo said. The new unit covers Benelux, Central Europe, Germany and Austria, Greece, Iberia, the Nordic region, Switzerland, Poland and Ukraine.

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Citigroup has overhauled much of its Emea investment banking leadership this year, with Welter joining as co-head of BCMA in the region from Credit Suisse in December after a two-decade career at the Swiss bank.

It has installed new leaders in its UK investment bank, M&A team and various sector coverage units in Emea over the past six months through internal promotions. Citigroup has been pushing for the number one dealmaking spot in the region after finishing third for a number of years and the shake-ups have been a key part in this.

“The senior hires have received a lot of attention, but the reality is that most of our changes have been internal,” Welter told FN in June. “We’ve handed more responsibility to the next generation of bankers that is hungry and wants to move up in their career, and we’ve freed more senior dealmakers from day-to-day responsibilities to spend more time with clients.”

To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email Paul Clarke

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