Citigroup Moves European Bankers, Names Country Heads

Citigroup Inc. is reshuffling managers in its European banking and capital markets origination teams as the pace of stock and bond sales in the region slows.

Eirik Winter will run debt capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the New York-based bank said in an internal memo late yesterday. Tim Harvey-Samuel will run European equity markets origination, a unit that helps clients plan stock sales.

The reshuffle will allow Citigroup "to be more effective in the management of our two key resources: our people and our balance sheet," King, the London-based head of European banking and co-head of capital markets origination, said in the memo.

The bank has dropped six places to become the No. 10 adviser on stock and convertible bond sales in Europe the Middle East and Africa, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Citigroup worked on offerings of $2.5 billion in the first half of this year, down from $11 billion in the same period in 2007.

Adam Castellani, a London-based spokesman for Citigroup, confirmed the memo's contents. Crispin Osborne, head of central European capital markets origination, will leave the bank and the investment banking industry, Citigroup said. Charlie Berman, who previously ran debt capital markets with Winter, will report to King and help to integrate the units.

Vikram Pandit, who took over as Citigroup's chief executive officer last year, said in March he wanted to cut bureaucracy by letting local executives make decisions without having to wait for approval from headquarters in New York. He has appointed four regional chiefs outside the U.S., giving William Mills responsibility for Western Europe and the Middle East and Shirish Apte the reins in central and eastern Europe.

As part of the changes, the bank also appointed new country heads in western Europe, who will take on responsibility for corporate and investment banking. Jean-Michel Steg will become head of banking for France and Belgium, and Paul Lerbinger will be chairman of banking for Germany, according to the memo. Manuel Falco was named head of banking for Spain and Portugal; Sergio Ascolani was appointed to the same role for Italy.

Citigroup is the No. 2 adviser on takeovers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa this year, working on deals worth $298.8 billion. The top-ranked adviser is Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which worked on $378.6 billion of deals.

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