Deutsche Bank and Citi have reshuffled their Indonesian leadership at a sensitive time as elections continue to grip the Southeast Asian country.
Kunardy Lie has moved from Citi to the German bank as its chief country officer for Indonesia, with Gioshia Ralie replacing him at the US group in an expanded role as global banking head, where he will run Indonesian corporate and investment banking.
Lie was managing director and head of corporate and investment banking for Citi in Indonesia. His move to Deutsche Bank is effective immediately.
He replaces Suresh Narang, who retired from Deutsche Bank at the end of March after 27 years, joining as a treasurer in Mumbai in 1987, transferring to Indonesia in 1994 as head of sales & trading business, and becoming country head in 2001.
Lie, who will be based in Jakarta, reports to Gunit Chadha and Alan Cloete, co-chief executives, Asia-Pacific, for Deutsche Bank.
“Kunardy is an experienced and accomplished banker and we are delighted to have him to lead the continued growth of our business in Indonesia, which has significant importance and potential for the bank,” Chadha said in a statement.
Ralie, meanwhile, joined Citi in 2004 and his expanded role began a month ago. He reports to Tigor Siahaan, Citi's country head for Indonesia.
“We have promoted from within … and we are confident our strong track record of client work in the country will continue under Gioshia's leadership,” a Citi spokesperson told FinanceAsia.
The moves come at a delicate time for Indonesia.
The country has in the past two weeks held parliamentary elections that look set to produce a weakened and fragmented government, while the expected accession of Jakarta governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to the presidency is not looking as smooth as it did a month ago.
The votes are still being counted for the parliamentary seats and the presidential election is due to be held on July 9.
Although the transition of government and president after ten years is not expected to yield significant changes in terms of investment, the period of uncertainty in the run-up to the elections seems set to continue, spooking some investors.
“[Foreign direct investment] has already been slowing down due to the uncertainty ahead of the elections, with foreigners waiting for a sign of who the winner will be. But if they were waiting for a strong performance from Jokowi they could be disappointed,” Euben Paracuelles, Southeast Asia economist for Nomura, told FinanceAsia.
Lie's appointment is a further example of Deutsche Bank's investment in senior talent in Asia Pacific, which continues to reap benefits for the bank in terms of revenue generation and IBIT (income before interest and taxes) growth - which more than doubled in the region in 2013.
He is the seventh chief country officer appointed in the region in the past two years, after similar appointments by Deutsche Bank in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan and India, as well as for Australia & New Zealand.
Citi's growing Asian presence
Citi unveiled improved first-quarter results this week, with adjusted net income rising to $4.15 billion, or $1.30 per share, from $4.00 billion, or $1.29 per share, a year earlier.
In an internal memo seen by FinanceAsia, Stephen Bird, Citi’s Asia chief executive, outlined the contribution made by Asia, particularly Southeast Asia.
Asia net income rose 20% to $0.9 billion, on revenues of $3.7 billion, up 7% over the previous quarter. For the same period, Asian consumer banking earnings rose 23% on revenue growth of 4% while earnings in ICG businesses grew 18% on revenue growth of 9%.
The memo highlighted Citi’s role in the recent sovereign debt offerings of the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
“Citi has a strong bench in Indonesia corporate and investment banking that was highlighted in the first quarter by [being a joint bookrunner] on the Republic of Indonesia's new benchmark bond offering,” Citi told FinanceAsia on Wednesday.
Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch were the other joint bookrunners.
