Citi adds to FX and FIG teams

Citi announced yesterday that it has appointed Todd Elmer as head of G10 FX strategy for Asia ex-Japan, a newly created role. And the firm will also announce today that it has hired Yin Lu as a director in its financial institutions group (FIG) global banking team in Asia-Pacific.

Elmer has relocated from Citi New York where he spent five years with the G10 FX strategy team. In his new job, he will work closely with Osamu Takashima, head of Japan FX strategy, and strategist Issei Suzuki in Japan to bring increased breadth and depth to Citi's FX strategy coverage for the region.

He will be based in Singapore and continues to report to Steven Englander, the firm's global head of G10 FX strategy who is based in New York.

“The G10 markets have been driving some of the key themes in 2010 – the European sovereign debt crisis, global risk aversion and Japanese yen appreciation – and we’re increasingly seeing interest from our clients and investors for on-the-ground, real-time coverage and analysis of the G10 FX markets within the Asian timezone. Todd’s appointment in Asia further underlines Citi’s commitment to grow in the G10 FX space,” said Englander in a press release.

Prior to joining Citi in 2005, Elmer was a New York-based FX strategist with Barclays Capital.

Citi is one of the largest foreign exchange providers in Asia-Pacific. It processes more than 5,000 trades each day with daily volumes exceeding $15 billion, and has the ability to quote over 400 currency pairs.

FIG appointment

Yin joins Citi from China International Capital Corp (CICC) where he has worked for the past nine years. As part of the bank's China investment banking team he has been involved in some of the landmark Chinese FIG transactions in the past decade.

"Yin has excellent client relationships and a deep knowledge of the China FIG space. This hire underlines our continued focus to strengthen our leading Asia-Pacific FIG global banking franchise," said Jing Zhao, co-head of FIG for Citi in Asia-Pacific. Yin will report to Jing and fellow co-head Simon Yoo.

Yin's primary focus will be on M&A and capital markets origination and execution in China. He will be based in Hong Kong.