Citigroup has announced plans to increase its investment banking workforce in Japan by 10% to 15% within the next year, alongside new recruitment efforts in Australia, reported Reuters.

This initiative is part of the bank’s strategy to enhance its growth in the Asia Pacific region, according to Jan Metzger, Citi’s head of investment banking for Asia Pacific.

The bank has experienced a significant increase in investment banking fees in Japan, which rose by 140% to $92m as of 10 July 2025, compared to the same period last year, as reported by Dealogic.

Metzger was quoted by the news agency as saying, “We are hiring and strengthening our regional investment banking team in a very meaningful way.

“We’re going to be in the market that’s growing phenomenally and we’re going to be growing faster than the market.”

Recently, Citi provided exclusive advisory services to Nippon Steel for its $14.9bn acquisition of U.S. Steel.

Metzger noted, “I think off the back of the Nippon Steel deal, our phones are really ringing off the hook with clients that have complicated geopolitical deals to do, both from Japan and elsewhere.”

Citi has strengthened its investment banking team in Asia this year by hiring senior bankers from competing firms, including Akira Kiyota from Nomura in Japan and Philippe Perzi, a former Goldman Sachs executive, in Australia.

The bank reported a 13% increase in global investment banking fees for the second quarter.

Additionally, the bank is focusing on convertible bond issuances, which have surged over the past year.

Recently, Citi assisted Alibaba in raising HK$12bn ($1.5bn) through an exchangeable bond offering.

Recently, HANetf, a European provider of white-label ETFs and ETCs, received a minority equity investment from Citi in HANetf Holdings Limited.

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