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Citigroup aims to win a larger share of Asia's equity capital markets and to expand in Indonesia by getting a stockbroking licence, its Asia Pacific head said on Friday.
Citi has been extending its reach and hiring people across Asia even as it streamlines its North American operations and sheds businesses that it no longer considers as core.
"Asia stands out as the region with the best growth and has the best potential for growth... At this stage, we are just looking at organic investments, organic growth," Citi's Asia Pacific joint CEO Shirish Apte told Reuters in an interview.
"We have got aggressive hiring plans," he added, saying this included about 200 people in Singapore this year.
Most of the new hires across Asia will be for the consumer bank, which has plans to open new branches in most Asian cities.
Citi recently started retail banking in Vietnam, and it has announced plans to set up an Islamic subsidiary in Malaysia as well as venture into rural areas of China.
Apte said Citi intended to put a greater emphasis on equity capital markets, where it lags its rivals in Asia, although he added the bank will not pursue growth at the expense of profits. Citi is stronger in debt and forex markets.
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