Citi just tapped 30-year company veteran Sandeep Arora to lead digital and investing strategy for the group that handles the bank’s largest clients

Arora, previously the global head of fintech and innovation for markets, has been with the firm since 1988. He most recently led a fintech investment portfolio within the markets and securities services group. He also managed a project focused on building out electric systems for ICG clients.

Here’s the full memo from Paco Ybarra, CEO of Citi’s ICG, and Stuart Riley, global head of ICG technology and operations at Citi:

Dear Colleagues,

We have seen further acceleration in the adoption and engagement of our digital platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Enhancing the way we serve our clients, a crucial component of Citi’s overall Transformation effort, has resulted in momentum that emphasizes the importance of our digital strategy and the need to further digitize our businesses to deliver the best user experience to our clients. Critical to our success is our commitment to have ICG-wide consistency in our digital offerings, to make us a simpler bank, one that is easier for our clients to do business with.

We are pleased to announce that Sandeep Arora will become the ICG Head of Digital and ICG Chief Investment Officer. Sandeep will build on his vast experience driving innovation, most recently managing the Markets & Securities Services FinTech investment portfolio and leading the project to develop an end-to-end strategy and execution for ICG electronic platforms.

In this new product role, Sandeep will accelerate and govern the ICG digital strategy. In close collaboration with all the lines of business, he will drive greater adoption of the digital services already deployed and accelerate digitization of all aspects of the services we offer to our clients, with focus on improving client experience. He will also lead an API first strategy aimed at giving clients direct access to our capabilities and also ensuring a high straight-through-processing rate in our processes, enhancements that will make us better in everything that we do for our clients.

As the ICG Chief Investment Officer, Sandeep will be empowered to drive consistency and best practices in investment decisions, investment approach and portfolio management, working with the investment teams embedded in the business lines. To that end, Sandeep will chair the investment committees and become a voting member of the investment committees for all ICG portfolios.

Please join us in congratulating Sandeep and wishing him success in this new role, which is crucial for the ICG to be a winner in the digital age.

— Paco and Stuart