By Tatiana Bautzer
(Reuters) -Citigroup said on Thursday Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason will leave the role in March, to be replaced internally at the U.S. lender by Gonzalo Luchetti.
Luchetti currently heads the U.S. retail division, one of Citigroup's five businesses. Once he becomes CFO, the division will be dismantled and folded into the wealth management division, the bank said.
Citi's retail bank and Citigold will be integrated into the wealth division, with those businesses to be led by Kate
Luft. She will report to Andy Sieg, the head of Wealth. Citigroup's retail business in the U.S. is much smaller than those of its larger rivals.
Citi’s Branded Cards and Retail Services businesses will be combined to form U.S. Consumer Cards and will be headed by Pam Habner, replacing U.S. Personal Banking as one of Citi's five business divisions.
In a statement, CEO Jane Fraser said she is confident the bank will reach its target return for next year.
"This evolution of our leadership team and structure is well timed as it puts in place our next generation of leaders ahead of our upcoming Investor Day." Mason will become an adviser to the CEO in March until leaving the bank by the end of 2026.
"Mason's exit was unexpected," said Stephen Biggar, an analyst at Argus Research. "He has been a very vocal proponent of Citi's strategy. It seems to be a bit of a loss on the communication of the strategy."
(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer in New York, additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in New York and Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, David Gregorio, Rod Nickel)
