(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. named veteran Chinese dealmaker Li Shan to a key position in advising the firm’s clients on navigating challenges across Asia.
The 62-year-old was named chairman of Japan, Asia North and Australia, marking a return for Li to global banking, according to an internal memo. He will be based in Hong Kong.
He most recently headed an investment firm. Li has also been on the board of Credit Suisse after stints at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., UBS Group AG and Bank of China International over the past decades. While at Goldman, he helped organize a $4.2 billion share offering by China Telecom (H.K.) Ltd. in 1997, the biggest such deal in Asia, excluding Japan, at the time.
“His deep understanding and experience across the business, political and academic fields will be beneficial in helping clients navigate through the challenges of the current macroenvironment,” Marc Luet, Citi’s head of Japan, Asia North and Australia and banking, said in the memo.
The move comes as international investors have revived interest in China after years on the sidelines amid increasing geopolitical pressure.
Li will play an instrumental role providing advice and insights to Chinese clients with international aspirations as well as multinationals planning to expand in China, according to the memo.
He is also member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, China’s top political advisory body.
The New York-based lender exited consumer banking in China in recent years, as part of a broader global retrenchment, and its plans for a Chinese securities firm have been hampered by both US and Chinese regulations.
More recently, the lender has been hiring senior bankers across banking and markets, including Lenny Chu from HSBC Holdings Plc, who joined as the head of China global network banking August.
Li is a graduate of Beijing’s Tsinghua University and also has a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a current member of the United Nations Investments Committee and MIT Sloan Finance Advisory Board, according to the memo.
(Adds details on Li’s career history throughout)
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