HONG KONG, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Citi has appointed

banking veteran Kaustubh Kulkarni as co-head of its Investment

Banking Coverage for Japan, Asia North and Australia, and Asia

South, according to a memo issued on Wednesday and reviewed by

Reuters.

Kulkarni, who will join in December subject to regulatory

approvals, will based in Singapore and serve alongside current

head Jan Metzger, according to the memo, the contents of which

were confirmed by a company spokesperson. Both will report to

global banking head Viswas Raghavan.

Formerly with JPMorgan ( JPM ), Kulkarni was most recently

the company's senior country officer for India and vice-chair of

Asia Pacific region.

Over nearly three decades at JPMorgan ( JPM ), Kulkarni held several

leadership roles, including Head of India, Head of Investment

Banking India, and Co-Head of Southeast Asia Investment Banking.

The appointment adds to Citi's global hiring spree under

Raghavan, who is pushing to strengthen the bank's dealmaking

team and urging executives to collaborate across business lines

to drive more transactions and opportunities, sources told

Reuters.

Since joining Citi in June 2024, Raghavan, known as Vis, has

recruited about 15 senior executives from competitors, most of

them from JPMorgan ( JPM ), but also from Goldman Sachs ( GS ), Morgan

Stanley ( MS ), Ares Management ( ARES ) and HSBC ( HSBC ) in

recent months, Reuters previously reported.

The bank is bolstering its Asia Pacific investment banking

team, planning to raise its headcount in Japan by as much as 10%

to 15% over the next year and make new hires in Australia,

Metzger told Reuters in July.