Citibank Taiwan Ltd’s (台灣花旗) board of directors yesterday elected Aftab Ahmed, a former Citi country officer (CCO) for the Philippines, as the bank’s new chairman, pending regulatory approval.
Aftab is to take over the position from Paulus Mok (莫兆鴻), who last month announced that he would on Friday next week retire as chairman and CEO.
Aftab, a Citi veteran of more than 40 years, has previously worked as Citi Taiwan’s global consumer banking operations and technology head, and thus has a good understanding and knowledge of the local market.
“Taiwan is one of Citi’s most important markets in the region where we have a market leading institutional franchise and a strong commitment to responsible and sustainable growth. I look forward to Aftab building on this strong franchise and supporting our clients further,” Citibank North and East Asia head Tim Monger said.
Aftab said: “We are grateful for Paulus’ 28-year contribution to Citi. Under his leadership, Citi Taiwan has consistently delivered strong results and has been smoothly moving forward with the GCB Divestiture. I look forward to building on this legacy and supporting our clients as we are committed to further growth in Taiwan.”
Paulus said: “Citi Taiwan has the best talent in the market. With this top-notch team, and Aftab’s more than 40 years of extensive experience gained from regional management, technology and business, Citi Taiwan will continue to shine.”
Under Paulus’ leadership, Citi Taiwan successfully helped clients achieve sustainable growth and laid a solid foundation with an environmental, social and corporate governance strategy as a core competitive advantage.
Citi was named the Best International Bank in Taiwan by FinanceAsia for 26 consecutive years and the Best International Bank by The Asset magazine for 19 consecutive years.
Citi was also consistently named Best Bank by Euromoney and Best International Bank by Asiamoney.
Aftab has held a number of senior roles at Citi including country officer and CEO for Egypt, country officer and CEO for Hungary, consumer country business manager for Pakistan, corporate bank head for New Zealand, branch expansion director in New York, consumer finance head and regional sales development director in Singapore, and consumer banking operations and technology head for Germany.
In his business and leadership roles in multiple locations, Aftab has been extensively involved in and has successfully contributed to country and regional initiatives to grow franchises, expand the branch footprint, increase the customer base and deepen relationships, and protect and grow portfolios.
Aftab believes that leadership is not just about leading people to achieve goals and deliver results, it is also about mentoring, and contributing to the growth and development of his team.
Since the opening of the first representative office in 1964, Citi has been present in Taiwan for close to 60 years. Citi is the largest foreign bank in Taiwan, and counts more than 700 multinational corporations, more than 1,500 small and medium-sized enterprises and more than 100 top local companies among its clients.
Citi is to continue to focus on clients’ needs, support local market development and foster sustainable growth in the corporate sector.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the