Citi has appointed Rajeev Garg as Head of Wealth for Citibank N.A., UAE, effective 18 June 2026. Garg leads the strategic advancement and performance of the bank's wealth business in the Emirates, spanning Citigold, Citigold Private Client and credit cards, while strengthening the business's risk and control framework in line with global standards and local regulatory requirements.
Garg brings 26 years of experience, including more than 18 years at Citi across multiple roles and geographies. He most recently served as Asia South Citigold Business Execution Lead, where he drove business transformation and performance across the region. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School. In the new role he reports to Yeo Wenxian, Head of Asia South Wealth, with a reporting line to Shamsa Al-Falasi, Citi Country Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Citibank N.A., UAE.
The reporting geometry is the story within the story. Plugging the UAE wealth business into the Asia South wealth structure, rather than treating it as a standalone Middle East vertical, shows how the global banks now map the Gulf: as the western node of an Asian wealth corridor running through Singapore and India, fed by the sustained migration of wealthy families and family offices into Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
For competitors, the move is another marker of how aggressively the international banks are staffing the UAE wealth build-out, and regional hiring in relationship management, product and risk roles is likely to follow. For senior wealth executives, the profile chosen is telling: long-tenured internal operators with execution records in Asian mass-affluent franchises are winning the Gulf mandates, a signal worth noting for anyone positioning for the next round of appointments in the region's fastest growing wealth market.
