Bird flies to the top of Citi in Asia

Citi has promoted Stephen Bird to sole CEO of Asia-Pacific while Shirish Apte, his former co-head, has become chairman.

“It’s a big move for Stephen and a sign he is a front runner for global CEO whenever Vikram Pandit decides it’s time to retire after navigating Citi from bailout to being back on track making money,” said a Citi insider. “Shirish, meanwhile, is on the back nine of his career.”

A Citi spokesman was careful to point out that the chairman role is still key to Citi, as it is client-facing and, in Apte’s case, frees him up to spend more time with key clients in India...