Jane Fraser To Break ‘Glass Ceiling’ As Citigroup CEO

Jane Fraser To Break 'Glass Ceiling' As Citigroup CEO

Citigroup Consumer Banking Chief Jane Fraser will take the top spot early next year when current CEO Michael Corbat retires, CNBC reported. Fraser would be the first female CEO of a U.S. mega-bank.

Corbat, 60, said he will retire in February after having held the CEO position for eight years. CNBC said the move would bring to a close a management shakeup that began last year.

Fraser took her current post as Citigroup’s head of the consumer banking division last October following an upheaval in the ranks of top executives. At the same time, she became president of the company, a position that had been open since Jamie Forese stepped down earlier in 2019.

Fraser, who has now been with the company for 16 years, had previously been in charge of the bank’s Latin American operations from 2015 to 2019. As retail banking chief, Fraser replaced Stephen Bird, who left the company to pursue other opportunities.

“A fresh set of eyes in consumer could be a good thing since this is the weak link at Citi,” said Wells Fargo Analyst Mike Mayo at the time.

According to Citigroup’s website, Fraser previously held the following roles:

  • CEO of Citi Latin America from 2015 to 2019
  • CEO of U.S. consumer and commercial banking and CitiMortgage from 2013 to 2015
  • CEO of Citi’s global private bank from 2009 to 2013
  • Global head of strategy and mergers and acquisitions for Citi

In its second-quarter results, Citi saw a surge in fixed-income trading revenue that helped the bank turn a profit, despite credit losses and weakness in its consumer banking unit.

The big rise in fixed-income trading revenue, combined with an increase in investment banking activity, pushed Citi’s Q2 revenue up 5 percent higher to $19.8 billion, compared to $18.8 billion during the same period a year ago.