By Arasu Kannagi Basil and Tatiana Bautzer NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason said on Tuesday that investment banking fees are expected to jump in the fourth quarter from the same time last year, as dealmaking continues to run hot. “On the investment banking side, we’re seeing continued momentum, […]
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Citi CFO expects investment banking fees to climb in fourth quarter
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By Arasu Kannagi Basil and Tatiana Bautzer
NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason said on Tuesday that investment banking fees are expected to jump in the fourth quarter from the same time last year, as dealmaking continues to run hot.
“On the investment banking side, we’re seeing continued momentum, particularly in M&A. We’re probably looking at investment banking fees up in the mid-20s (percentage) year-over-year,” Mason said at the Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference.
Citi, like its competitors, has benefited from rebounding capital markets. Megadeals have increased this year as corporate boardrooms become inured to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
“The capital markets are wide open to some extent. We’re seeing a lot of investment grade activity. Despite the shutdown, equity volumes and IPO volumes have held up,” Mason said.
Meanwhile, markets revenue is expected to be down in the low-to-mid single digits in the fourth quarter from a year ago, Mason said.
RESILIENT ECONOMY
The global economy has remained generally resilient despite continued bouts of uncertainty, and balance sheets were strong, Mason said.
“We’re likely to see that the fourth quarter GDP growth has slowed a bit. Our expectation is that 2026 probably has a continued slowing of growth at a moderate level,” Mason said.
Incoming CFO Gonzalo Luchetti said U.S. consumers continued to show resilience, and the bank saw solid growth in consumer spending through October and November.
The bank announced last month that Citigroup CFO Mark Mason will leave his role in March and be succeeded by Luchetti, the current head of its U.S. retail division.
The presentation was Luchetti’s first in front of analysts and investors since the announcement. When he was appointed, Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo said Luchetti was still “unproven” as a CFO.
TRANSFORMATION
Citi is also looking to bring transformation expenses down next year, Mason said, with the bank making progress on transformation goals.
“I think it’s a significant amount of progress that we’ve made and you heard us mention about two thirds of the efforts are at or near completion or close to target state,” Mason said.
The bank has undergone a multi-year effort under CEO Jane Fraser to boost profits and returns by removing management layers, cutting jobs, and revamping its structure.
Citi is also working on increasing compliance and risk controls as required by consent orders imposed by regulators the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
On the regulatory front, Mason said the capital discussions could lead to a reduction in requirements.
“There’s a question of timing and when all of that plays out. But it’s directionally favorable towards capital requirements for the industry, which is a good thing,” Mason said.
Reuters reported in October that U.S. big banks were optimistic about flat or falling capital levels as Trump regulators work on the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. capital rules since the global financial crisis of 2008.
(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer in New York and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; editing by Lananh Nguyen, Leslie Adler and Stephen Coates)