Spear’s Review

When Jane Fraser took on the top role at Citi in 2020, Wall Street observers weren’t shy in describing the mammoth task in front of her. At the time the US banking mainstay was widely regarded as a laggard, with its share price well below its bulge bracket peers. It also faced a $400 million regulatory fine, on top of a major probe into its risk-management systems.

Scottish-born Fraser, a McKinsey veteran and former head of Citi Private Bank, insisted she was unfazed by it all, describing the regulatory clampdown as a chance to ‘galvanise’ change. True to her word, Fraser would shortly pledge an overhaul of the banking behemoth, promising to eliminate bureaucracy and speed up decision-making. Code-named ‘Project Bora Bora’, Fraser’s shake-up was – unlike its namesake – anything but tranquil.

Announced in 2023, the project set out to eliminate 20,000 jobs, streamline management structures and realign the firm around five key business areas. A reported 7,000 jobs were cut in the first quarter of 2024, marking an end to the firm’s ‘organisational simplification’, which resulted in ‘a cleaner, simpler management structure that fully aligns to and facilitates our strategy’, Fraser said in an earnings call at the time.

Citi reported total revenues of $81 billion for full-year 2024, the highest since 2010. Fraser’s reward? A pay rise of 37 per cent, the biggest among US bank executives. Let’s just hope that the revamp has earned her more fans than foes.

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