Goldman Sachs banker Philippe Perzi in line for top Citi role

Citi is pondering poaching a banker from rival Goldman Sachs. Picture: AFP

There’s now another name being touted as a potential candidate for the top role at Citi’s Australian investment banking operations, and it would involve the US bank hiring from one of its major Wall Street rivals.

Sources have suggested that a contender is Philippe Perzi, the head of the Financial Institutions Group for Australia and New Zealand at Goldman Sachs.

Mr Perzi has worked at Goldman Sachs since 2016, arriving after a time at Macquarie Group, and the chatter comes just months after his predecessor, Craig Murray, who runs FIG for Goldman Sachs across Asia, is said to have returned to Australia.

However, despite Mr Murray’s return to home shores, the understanding is that his role still extends to covering the Asia-­Pacific, while Mr Perzi still oversees ANZ.

DataRoom reported in December that Citi had short-listed candidates for the position of head of investment banking for ANZ, with internal and external candidates on the list.

The suggestion in the market is that Citi is keen to find a banker to carry out the role with expertise in FIG or industrials, two areas in which the bank wants to broaden its coverage locally.

Among the internal candidates that have been considered is Ben Connolly, Citi’s managing director focused on ANZ real ­estate, while Financial Institutions Group head at Barrenjoey Anthony Brasher has been part of the conversations.

The move to hire a new boss comes after the departure of Citi’s local boss, Alex Cartel, who left last year to join Rothschild & Co.

Citi has declined to comment, but sources late last year told ­DataRoom an appointment would not be announced until 2025.

Should Mr Perzi land the role, it would be the second high-profile departure from the Goldman Sachs investment banking team in recent months, after its ANZ head of equity capital markets, Aaron Lamshed, unexpectedly left over the Christmas period.