Scaturro leaves Citigroup as Prince rings changes

Citigroup has announced its decision to release Peter Scaturro from his role as head of the group’s private banking division. The bank’s image has been badly dented following the suspension of its Japanese operations.

Japanese authorities closed Citigroup’s private banking operations in September, after finding irregularities including violations of banking laws. The bank reacted with disciplinary actions including the termination of the contracts of six of its officers and formal reprimands to other employees, but now it has decided to take further action affecting senior management.

In a memo sent to employees, seen by PWM, the bank’s CEO Chuck Prince wrote that, along with Mr Scaturro, Sir Deryck Maughan, chairman of Citigroup International, and Thomas Jones, head of investment management, are also to be released from their jobs. Sir Deryck was chairman of the firm’s Japanese business until two years ago.

The decision to release Mr Scaturro is not the first change in senior management that the private bank has undergone in the last few years. In 2003, Christopher Preston, head of private banking for Europe, left the company after less than two years and was replaced by Frances Aldrich Sevilla-Sacasa, who is now responsible for Europe and Latin America.

According to Mr Prince’s memo, Citigroup Private Bank will report to Todd Thomson, recently appointed as chairman and CEO of Smith Barney, the group’s global private client wealth management and equity research unit.

Mr Scaturro’s departure could mean changes in the strategy of one of the world’s largest private banks. According to data from Scorpio Partnership, Citigroup is in seventh position among the top ten global private banks, with assets under management of $145bn (E115bn) at the end of 2003, representing a rise of 16.94 per cent on the previous year.

Scaturro: was head of private banking