Citigroup Poaches Two Credit Suisse Consumer Bankers in Europe

Citigroup Inc. has hired two senior consumer dealmakers from Credit Suisse Group AG to beef up its European investment banking ranks.

(Bloomberg) — Citigroup Inc. has hired two senior consumer dealmakers from Credit Suisse Group AG to beef up its European investment banking ranks.

The US firm appointed Maarten Swart as co-head of consumer and retail in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for its banking, capital markets and advisory group, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News. He will also serve as head of investment banking for the Benelux region.

Citigroup hired Credit Suisse managing director Sophie van Kleef to work on food and beverage deals for the consumer team, according to the memo.

Swart and van Kleef will both be based in the Netherlands. Swart has spent his entire 17-year career at Credit Suisse, while van Kleef has been with the Swiss bank for all of her 13 years in the industry.

Talent Hunt

Investment banks are on the lookout for talent leaving Credit Suisse following its emergency takeover by UBS Group AG earlier this month. Thousands of jobs are expected to be cut as UBS integrates the business and aims to keep its investment bank lean.

Citigroup is also appointing Emre Eler, who was most recently co-head of EMEA consumer products investment banking, as co-head of EMEA consumer and retail for the BCMA team, according to the memo. Eler joined Citigroup in 2020 from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The memo was sent by Citigroup’s EMEA BCMA co-heads, Ignacio Gutierrez-Orrantia and Jens Welter, as well as global consumer and retail BCMA head Clayton Hale and BCMA Benelux head Rutger van Nouhuijs.

Leadership Moves

Robert Plowman, co-head of EMEA consumer products investment banking at Citigroup, is leaving the firm, people with knowledge of the matter said.

William Mansfield will succeed Swart as Credit Suisse’s head of EMEA consumer and retail, real estate and health care investment banking, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News. Mansfield, who joined Credit Suisse in 1996, will take on the new role in addition to his current position as head of EMEA mergers and acquisitions.

Representatives for Citigroup and Credit Suisse confirmed the contents of the memos and declined to comment further.

Last year, Citigroup named former Credit Suisse executive Jens Welter as its new co-head of European investment banking, working alongside Ignacio Gutierrez-Orrantia.

Read more: Credit Suisse’s Klein Loses the Deal of His Life as Plans for First Boston Collapse

(Updates with details on memo in seventh paragraph.)

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