Charles del Porto, Citibank's executive in charge of credit cards in Europe, recently transferred to running the bank's branch operation in Spain.
The move is part of a year-old restructuring that continues even as the Citicorp subsidiary prepares for its merger with Travelers Group.
Mr. del Porto, 45, had been in the European cards post since 1996, reporting to Roberta J. Arena. Ms. Arena resigned at the end of last year after she began reporting to William I. Campbell, executive vice president of the consumer bank worldwide. Previously, Ms. Arena had reported directly to Citicorp chairman and chief executive officer John S. Reed.
Mr. del Porto moved to Madrid in March, two months after Dinny Devitre joined Citibank from Philip Morris Cos. to run the consumer bank in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Mr. del Porto reports to Mr. Devitre, who is in charge of branches and cards.
Citibank spokeswoman Maria Mendler said the changes brought the European hierarchy into line with other regions.
"Basically, we are back to a structure that has always existed in the Asia and Latin America regions," she said. In those regions and in the United States, one executive oversees both branch banking and cards.
Ms. Arena's different arrangement - taking charge of the card business in Europe and North America, but not branches - lasted three years.
The thinking then, Ms. Mendler said, was that "the customer bases in Europe and North America were similar enough that one person would run branches in those two regions and one person would run cards."
But Ms. Mendler continued, "around here nothing is ever set in stone."
In the United States, Ms. Arena was succeeded by Sami Siddiqui, who joined the bank a year ago from Providian Financial Corp.
Mr. del Porto, a 14-year veteran of Citibank, previously ran the branch businesses in France and Italy. His move to Spain, where he has family, is part of Citibank's tradition of frequently moving senior managers to different posts and countries.
