Citi’s Sieg under outside legal investigation

Citi has enlisted a large outside law firm to help it conduct a human resources investigation into its wealth head, Andy Sieg, according to news reports.

Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Citi has brought in the prominent firm Paul Weiss to help look into complaints against Sieg, who was recruited from Bank of America’s Merrill in 2023 as part of Citi CEO Jane Fraser’s bid to overhaul the firm’s flagging wealth management business.

Bloomberg said at least six managing directors at Citi have lodged HR complaints against Sieg and that the firm is particularly looking into his treatment of former private banking head Ida Liu. Liu left Citi in January after 18 years and was replaced by four regional executives, all of them men. Bloomberg said questions have also been raised about his treatment of Kristen Bitterly, who became the head of the firm’s Wealth at Work division in September.

Paul Weiss’s investigation is now complete, Bloomberg reported. Neither Citi nor Paul Weiss immediately responded to requests to confirm the news report.

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Since taking over as head of Citi’s wealth management unit nearly two years ago, Sieg has received little but praise from Fraser and other executives in public statements. Speaking in April about the firm’s first-quarter earnings, top Citi leaders said the wealth business was making “excellent progress” under Sieg’s leadership. Citi provided Sieg with $13 million in compensation for his work last year after saying, “He has set a new path for the business, has made many of the necessary, material changes to improve performance and brought in significant new talent.”

— This story is developing. Check back for updates.