British banker handed $25m by Wall Street giant

A British banker has been handed a $25m (£18.7m) bonus after being promoted to chairman of Wall Street giant Citi.

Jane Fraser, who has served as Citi’s chief executive since 2021, has been elected to chair the board, cementing her position at the top of the bank.

She replaces John Dugan, who has been in the role since 2019 and will now become lead independent director. Citi has kept its chairman and chief executive roles separate since 2007. The $25m payout consists of restricted stock and more than one million stock options.

Ms Fraser, who was born in the seaside golfing town of St Andrews, is the most senior British banker in the US.

The Cambridge and Harvard-educated executive spent more than a decade at consultancy giant McKinsey before joining Citi in 2004 and rising through a number of senior roles.

The 58-year-old, who speaks fluent Spanish, fended off sexist backlash in the Mexican press after being put in charge of the bank’s Latin American operations.

She became chief executive in 2021, just over a year after her predecessor, Michael Corbat, said he did not expect to be succeeded by a woman.

‘She has the vision’

During her tenure, Ms Fraser has overseen the biggest shake-up of the Wall Street bank for more than two decades, reorganising the business to strip back layers of management and hand herself more control. Citi last year said it would cut 20,000 jobs – around 10pc of its global workforce – as part of the restructuring.

Citi, one of the five largest banks in the US, has lagged behind its rivals and come under pressure from investors to improve its profitability.

But there have been signs of improvement in recent years. The bank reported a 16pc jump in profit to $3.75bn in the third quarter, while its share price has more than doubled over the last five years.

Mr Dugan said: “Jane’s very deliberate plan to make Citi a simpler and more focused bank has created meaningful shareholder value.

“She has the vision, drive and determination to ensure that Citi not only builds on this progress but thrives in this era of both continued macro uncertainty and unprecedented innovation,” he added.

Ms Fraser said: “As we get more and more of the hard yards behind us, my excitement about what’s possible for Citi grows exponentially.

“We’re standing shoulder to shoulder with clients navigating pressures and opportunities coming at them from every direction, we have a world-class team that’s committed to strengthening every aspect of our performance, and we’ve shown that we can meaningfully grow our returns for our shareholders.”