Asia: Citi Wants More Mums to Continue in the Workforce

Hong Kong/Singapore – Citi's Asia Pacific Markets and Securities Services (MSS) business has launched a program to retain more female employees post-maternity across its business. The Maternity Matters program has already started in Hong Kong and Singapore and is planned for further roll out across the region in 2018.

Citi Maternity Matters aims to support MSS employees during and after their maternity leave and complement the existing infrastructure in place to support working mothers at Citi already across the bank's Asia Pacific network.

At launch events in Singapore and Hong Kong, managers from various MSS businesses had the opportunity to learn about the new framework. These included:

• The clear business case for Diversity & Female Talent including an extension from 10 to 14 weeks for maternity leave in Hong Kong and flexible working options for returning Mums.
• The Manager's role and how best they can support their employees during and after maternity and ensure a successful transition back to work and managing the work/life balance with increased flexible working options.
• More detailed and updated policy information across the 17 markets Citi operates across Asia Pacific.
• Manager & Employee Toolkits – a one-stop shop for all information relating to policies, support Citi will provide during pregnancy, maternity leave and on the employees return to work.
• Maternity Coaching and a Buddy Program to support employees both during and after maternity.

The workshop was designed with the help of Citi's Diversity team in partnership with Human Resources as a result of a taskforce led by Asia Pacific Head of Corporate Equity Derivatives, Sue Lee.

Having managed a successful career in Citi along with having children, Sue strongly believes in the better support organizations can offer to ensure mothers with young children are retained and continue to be developed at Citi.

"Post maternity is a challenging period for new parents, and statistics show that this period coincides with high female attrition across some markets in the Markets and Securities Services business. Often this is driven by concern about returning and managing the life/work balance rather than by a real desire to quit or the long term. Our Maternity Matters program aims to address key concerns of women going on and returning from maternity - so that we may support and retain female talent at Citi for the longer term," said Sue.

"Research and experience both confirm that when a company embraces diversity, the most talented people are not just attracted to joining the company, but are also much more productive and motivated to stay. Maintaining a truly diverse environment has been proven to be a leading indicator of the quality of our culture in addition to being an effective way of connecting to an equally diverse client base," said Julia Raiskin, Head of Investor Services, Markets and Securities Services, Asia Pacific.

Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

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Media Contact: Scott Helfman +1 212-816-9241

Citi and Diversity
At Citi, our employees reflect the remarkable range of cultures and perspectives of our clients across the more than 160 countries and jurisdictions where we do business – a powerful advantage that combines global insights with deep local knowledge. We recognize that unique individuals, collaborative teams and inclusive leaders have far-reaching impact and are the engines of new ideas. It's our willingness to embrace the richness of our diverse teams, ideas and possibilities that drives our growth and progress.

Embracing diverse teams, ideas and possibilities helps us drive growth and progress because it's a key part of who we are and how we thrive.

We believe that we are all accountable and responsible for promoting inclusion and work to continually enhance our capabilities. Executives from our CEO's leadership team lead our 10 Affinities that represent the broad ranging demographics of our employees: Asian Heritage, Black Heritage, Citi Salutes (Military Veterans), Citi Women, disABILITY, Generations, Hispanic/Latino Heritage, Multicultural, Parents and Pride.

In these roles, our leaders are responsible for developing a better understanding and appreciation of the uniqueness of each group, and coming up with ideas and initiatives to ensure Citi is helping them grow, develop and matriculate through the firm. Through the Affinity Model, we see senior leaders driving change in our culture, practices and policies, creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

While senior level accountability is critical to this effort, it won't work without the involvement of our broader employee base. Our leaders will work in tandem with Citi's Employee Network Program and employees globally. We have over 150 network chapters in 65+ locations across 38 countries, with over 16,000 members.

Media Contact:
James Griffiths +852-2868-7668 james.a.griffiths@citi.com