Citi has appointed Weber Lo as its new country officer and chief executive for Hong Kong and Macau. He will take over the role on January 1, 2013 and succeeds Shengman Zhang.
Lo is currently head of Citi’s consumer banking business in Hong Kong and Macau, covering retail banking, investment, insurance, credit cards and consumer lending, as well as commercial banking. In his new role, he will be responsible for all businesses across the Citi franchise in the two special administrative regions.
Lo will also join Citi’s Asia-Pacific executive committee, reporting to Stephen Bird, chief executive for the region.
“[Lo’s] appointment demonstrates our commitment to planned succession and leadership development in Citi,” said Bird in a statement yesterday. He also thanked Zhang for his stewardship, which saw Citi’s Hong Kong “core businesses continue to grow”. Zhang will retain his position as co-chairman for Citi Asia-Pacific.
After holding senior jobs at Coca-Cola China and Procter & Gamble in Hong Kong, Lo joined Citi’s consumer banking group in 2000 as head of Citigold, the bank’s wealth management business. A year later he became head of Bankcard marketing and then became country marketing director and director of retail banking in 2002 and 2003, respectively.
He was later chief operating officer and director of retail banking, overseeing the operations and development of the retail banking business in Hong Kong and Macau, including sales and distribution. During the past three years, Citi has doubled the size of its branch network in Hong Kong.
Lo is the chief executive of the Board for Citibank in Hong Kong, and a member of the board of directors for China Guangfa Bank. In addition, he is a member of the banking advisory committee at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the chairman of the financial and treasury services committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.
Other public service engagements include membership of the financial services advisory committee of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the joint committee on student finance for the Hong Kong government.
