Citi names Kaustubh Kulkarni co-head of investment banking for Asia Pacific

By Selena Li

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Citi has appointed banking veteran Kaustubh Kulkarni as co-head of its Investment Banking Coverage for Japan, Asia North and Australia, and Asia South, according to a memo issued on Wednesday and reviewed by Reuters.

Kulkarni, who will join in December subject to regulatory approvals, will based in Singapore and serve alongside current head Jan Metzger, according to the memo, the contents of which were confirmed by a company spokesperson. Both will report to global banking head Viswas Raghavan.

Formerly with JPMorgan, Kulkarni was most recently the company's senior country officer for India and vice-chair of Asia Pacific region.

Over nearly three decades at JPMorgan, Kulkarni held several leadership roles, including Head of India, Head of Investment Banking India, and Co-Head of Southeast Asia Investment Banking.

The appointment adds to Citi's global hiring spree under Raghavan, who is pushing to strengthen the bank's dealmaking team and urging executives to collaborate across business lines to drive more transactions and opportunities, sources told Reuters.

Since joining Citi in June 2024, Raghavan, known as Vis, has recruited about 15 senior executives from competitors, most of them from JPMorgan, but also from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Ares Management and HSBC in recent months, Reuters previously reported.

The bank is bolstering its Asia Pacific investment banking team, planning to raise its headcount in Japan by as much as 10% to 15% over the next year and make new hires in Australia, Metzger told Reuters in July.

(Reporting by Selena Li; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)