Citigroup has set up a joint venture between its structured finance businesses in fixed income and investment banking, which had previously operated independently. As part of the change the firm has realigned management of the activity. Under the new organization the structured principal group in fixed income, headed by Paul Deards, will be integrated into the global capital structuring unit of structured corporate finance, which is part of the firm's investment banking division. Deards now reports to Andrew Géczy, head of structured corporate finance, who confirmed the realignment.
The move is the third joint venture the firm has established between its banking and capital market divisions, having already established equity and debt joint ventures, explained an official. The move is designed to allow its structured corporate finance activity in investment banking to work more closely with fixed income, at the same time as maintaining its organizational alignment with its coverage teams, he added.
The structuring teams had previously worked separately, although had overlapped in several areas. The groups work on structured trades in various industries, including project finance, infrastructure finance and export credit agencies and include creating products to meet accounting and regulatory requirements.
