Citi's new Singapore country head is the 1st Singaporean in the role for 50 years
Times are changing in Singapore. As banks in the country double down on recruiting local Singaporeans, Citi's new Singapore country officer and banking head for Singapore is Singaporean, for the first time in 50 years.
Bloomberg reported that Lee Lung Nien has been promoted into the role at Citi. Most recently chairman of Citi's private bank in Singapore, Lung Nien began working for Citi as a credit analyst in 1990 and has been there ever since. He's mostly worked in Singapore, but also spent six years at Citi in Malaysia.
In a statement announcing Lung Nien's promotion, Amol Gupte, Citi's Asia South Cluster head said the US bank hasn't had a Singapore in the role for half a century. His predecessor, Tibor Pandi was from Eastern Europe. Citi opened in Singapore in 1902, so it's not clear whether it had a history of being run by Singaporeans in the distant past.
Lung Nien's new role comes as the Singaporean government introduced a new points based system for non-Singaporeans seeking work in the country in June 2025. Known as the "Compass Rules" they take into consideration factors like salary, skills, qualifications, nationality diversity and support for local employees.
Anecdotally, the new rules are making it more challenging for banks to hire non-Singaporeans, while local candidates are now able to demand higher salaries and perks due to their short supply. HSBC and UBS have also appointed senior Singaporeans to key roles, with Kee Joo Wong now running HSBC's Singapore business and Jin Yee Young co-head of APAC wealth management at UBS.
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