Sept 2 (Reuters) - Citigroup ( C/PN ) announced seven new

appointments for its Australia and New Zealand business on

Monday across verticals, as the financial services major aims to

strengthen these markets.

The appointments are across markets sales, asset-backed

securitization & financing, G10 rates trading, corporate access,

forex and equities electronic execution teams, it said in a

statement.

Citi Markets business supports the diverse investment and

transaction strategies of corporations, governments, investors

and intermediaries.

Insider Peter Hext joined as the head of asset-backed

securitization & financing for Australia and New Zealand. Hext,

who has been with Citi for more than 13 years, most recently

served as the head of commercial asset-backed securitization in

New York.

Dan Birch joined Citi as head of markets sales, New Zealand

responsible for driving client engagement in New Zealand.

Other appointments include that of Ankit Khandelwal to the

G10 rates trading team and Melanie Vandervord to the access

strategies team covering Australia and New Zealand.

Additionally, it expanded its corporate forex sales team

with two new appointments and added a new sales trader to the

equities electronic execution team.

"The Australia and New Zealand Markets business is

experiencing material growth, and these recent appointments will

strengthen our ability to deliver increased value to our

clients," said Cristina Chang, head of Citi Australia and New

Zealand Markets.

"We are investing in our capabilities to ensure we have the

skills and experience needed to meet our clients' complex needs

in a dynamic market environment," she added.