Citi names new Phl head

MANILA, Philippines - Citi has appointed Batara Sianturi as Citi Country Officer (CCO) for the Philippines and as the Philippines/Guam cluster head, responsible for all businesses across the franchise in these markets. The appointment, subject to regulatory approval, will be effective June 1, 2013.

Sianturi will replace Sanjiv Vohra who will be moving back to India. Vohra has led Citi Philippines from November 2005. Over almost eight years, Vohra has driven record success for Citi’s corporate and consumer banking businesses in the country.  During his tenure, the Philippines became home to multiple Citi Centers of Excellence for various business processing activities, which increased the number of Citi employees in the country.

As CCO, Sianturi will have the critical role of protecting and leading the Citi franchise in the Philippines. The CCO role is the face of Citi to key stakeholders in the country and across the global Citi network.

Sianturi is currently the CCO for Hungary and the cluster head for Hungary and 12 other countries in the Balkan and Baltic Regions in Central Eastern Europe.  He will report to Michael Zink, ASEAN head and Citi Country Officer, Singapore.

Sianturi joined Citi Indonesia as a management associate in 1988 and has held a number of positions in consumer audit, operations and finance. His senior appointments include consumer CFO, overseas mortgage head in Australia, branch network and sales director, retail banking director and marketing director for retail banking and credit cards in Australia and Indonesia.  He moved to Hungary in 2005 initially as consumer business manager before taking on the broader role of CCO in 2007 and subsequently the cluster head role in 2008.

Educated in the United States, Sianturi has an MBA, Finance from St John’s University and a Master of Chemical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, as well as Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering and Polymer Science from Case Western Reserve University.