Marc Luet’s Post

It’s a wrap for our Global Community Day 2024! A big thank you to our 4,700 #CitiVolunteers across the Japan, Asia North and Australia cluster for making a difference in the month of June. Together, we participated in over 80 activities, including protecting native plants and wildlife in Australia, hand-painting shoes and bags for children in rural areas in China, sorting and packing 4,800kg of food donations in Hong Kong, clearing 200kg of trash at a beach in Japan, building homes for low-income families in Korea and preparing Mandarin learning kits for migrant workers in Taiwan. Let’s keep the momentum going beyond Global Community Day to integrate the spirit of giving back in our daily lives. Together, we have the power to make positive change!

A truly exceptional two days in Shanghai last week! Thanks to the Lujiazui Forum for having me as a speaker. It was a privilege to share the stage with my esteemed fellow panelists to discuss the institutional opening-up of the financial sector in China by benchmarking against international high-standard economic and trade rules. Citi has been in China for 122 years and we remain committed to supporting the needs and aspirations of Chinese corporates, global multinationals and new economy companies along their growth journeys. It was also great to spend some time with our China colleagues. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to our franchise and I look forward to visiting again soon!

A warm welcome to our 2024 Summer Interns! This is one of my favorite activities annually – meeting and engaging with the bright and inspirational young talent who join us for over 10 weeks during the summer. This year, we have more than 160 interns across the Japan, Asia North and Australia cluster. As a former summer intern myself many years ago, I benefitted enormously from that invaluable experience and hope that you will too. Make the most of your internship with us - immerse yourself and soak in every moment, meet and talk to as many people as you can and proactively seek out learning opportunities! Most of all, enjoy the experience and have fun in the process!

This week, we announced the launch of Citi Commercial Bank in Japan, with the focus on supporting mid-sized corporates through every stage of their growth journey. Japan is home to many new and innovative companies, with global linkages and cross-border needs, and we are well-positioned to support their growth ambitions by leveraging the power of our network. This launch reaffirms our commitment to serving the Japanese market and complements our existing banking capabilities in the country, which currently supports large Japanese corporates and global multinational companies operating in Japan. https://lnkd.in/g8e_nKmy

Annyeonghaseyo and konnichiwa! We were excited to welcome Head of International Ernesto Torres Cantú to Seoul and Tokyo last week! He brought so much energy, candor and passion to his interactions with our clients, partners and colleagues. As important markets for local corporates, multinationals and global investors, Korea and Japan are two of our priority countries and I look forward to our businesses there benefitting from the strong connectivity and synergies with the other markets globally as well as in the cluster.

Thank you Taipei for the warm welcome! It was a fantastic whirlwind trip to meet clients and spend time with our colleagues to better understand our Citi Taiwan franchise. Met some truly driven and enthusiastic folks across our Corporate, Investment and Commercial Banking, Treasury and Trade Solutions, and Securities Services businesses, and came away impressed by our strong momentum and pipeline potential. With the emerging megatrends like AI, 5G and other advanced technologies, there is a growing demand from Taiwan clients for our support for their business growth and expansion locally and beyond. Looking forward to seeing great things from our Taiwan business as we help our clients grow!

I had the privilege of joining our recent Global Community Day activity at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo. We collected fallen branches around the park. The effort is aimed to help maintain the park to be a clean and safe place for visitors to enjoy. A big thank you to all participating colleagues and a special shoutout to our amazing volunteer leaders who organized the event. Your hard work and leadership were key to the success of this event. Proud to be part of a team dedicated to positive change and community improvement. #Citi #CitiJapan #CitiVolunteers

I am constantly on the road these few months as I transition to my new role, and this week I had the pleasure of being in Hong Kong, where I met with some clients and partners. It is also incredibly easy to do a day trip from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, and that’s what I did to meet with some tech clients, who blew me away with their innovation and ingenuity. Citi’s unparalleled global network is a natural match with the global ambitions of our clients, and in both cities, we had some interesting conversations about how we can work closer together on their growth journeys. I love spending time with our people whenever I travel as I get to hear about their successes, concerns and challenges first-hand. It was thus great to answer the many questions from colleagues at my first town hall for the Japan, Asia North and Australia cluster, and also to engage with our colleagues in the Shenzhen office.

It was fantastic to spend a few fruitful days in New York with my fellow Citi leaders responsible for driving the firm’s strategy in 95 geographies globally. We discussed how we can deliver the best of Citi to our clients and how we as leaders need to evolve in a fast-moving world. Our local Citi Country Officers and Banking Heads are at the very center of our mission to be the preeminent banking partner for our clients with cross-border needs and it was priceless to be together in one place to exchange ideas, share best practices and experience the One Citi spirit. I was also delighted to spend some time with the leaders from the newly-formed Japan, Asia North and Australia cluster as I am transitioning to my new cluster head role. I return to Asia reenergized and invigorated, and excited with the way forward.