Ex-Citi private bank head Ida Liu goes to HSBC

HSBC Holdings has hired former Citigroup executive Ida Liu to run its global private-banking business.

Processing Content

Liu will start in her new role as CEO of HSBC Private Bank on Jan. 5, and will be in London following a transition period in New York, according to an internal memo from Barry O’Byrne, the CEO of HSBC’s international wealth and premier banking division.

Liu replaces Gabriel Castello, who was appointed interim CEO of the wealth business late last year, when Annabel Spring stepped down as part of a management shake-up under group CEO Georges Elhedery.

Castello will now assume a new role of vice chair of HSBC Private Bank and report to Liu, while the latter will report to O’Byrne, according to the memo, which was seen by Bloomberg News.

A representative of HSBC confirmed the contents of the memo but declined to comment further.

The move comes as HSBC’s Swiss private bank is in the midst of ending relationships with more than 1,000 wealthy Middle Eastern clients, including many with assets exceeding $100 million. Bloomberg News has reported that the British lender is under the scrutiny of Swiss watchdog FINMA, which had previously found that HSBC’s private bank failed to carry out adequate due diligence on high-risk accounts held by politically exposed persons. Swiss federal prosecutors have also opened a probe into the division.

Liu was one of Citigroup’s most senior public faces until she left the bank in January after 18 years there. Early in her career, she was an investment banker and also worked for fashion designer Vivienne Tam before building a wealth practice at Citigroup catering for fashion and media billionaires and their families.

During her final four years at Citigroup, she was global head of private banking, which was heavily focused on clients in the U.S. and Asia. Born and raised in California, Liu speaks fluent Chinese and Spanish, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Her departure from Citigroup followed tensions with Andy Sieg, the firm’s head of wealth, whom the bank stood by after hiring a law firm to investigate claims he mistreated employees including Liu. Jane Fraser, the bank’s chief executive, has stood by Sieg, who has since been handed greater responsibilities.