Citibank: Meeting universal expectations

Citibank Philippines country corporate officer Catherine M. Weir is a petite lady of strong views on the subject of essential adherence to corporate values.

That she heads a country office that is among a wide-reaching multinational company’s busiest and most successful branches can only vouch for her determination in meeting universal expectations of a prestigious institution.

As part of Citigroup, Inc., the result of the 1988 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group, Citibank is a truly global financial services company with established offices in over a hundred countries.

It is the largest foreign bank in the Philippines in terms of customers, employees, assets, revenues and number of domestic branches. With a workforce of over 1,300 employees, 98.5 percent of which are local staff, Citibank is the only foreign bank ranked among the top 10 commercial banks in the country.

As a yardstick for success, Citibank’s efforts in the Philippines seem unparalleled in recent years. For this Weir credits the consummate level of training and professionalism synonymous with working at Citibank. The integrity of its system has also obviously rubbed off in strong measure on its workforce.

Weir’s own personal view on ethics, which she says corresponds with the corporate view of the company she serves, is that it should always be of the highest standards possible.

"My training has been with Citibank, and as a result, my personal standards have been forged doing business around the world for a good number of years."

Ethical considerations are well-defined in the company’s Mission/Vision statement. "It is in the first line in our code of conduct for all our employees around the globe."

Weir acknowledges that one’s cognizance of morality and ethics starts "from the age of consciousness of what is right and what is wrong."

This starts at the home, of course. "Then I think that goes right through grade school, and on through formal education, and so on, when one starts working for success and receives the hard lesson: that there are very few short cuts."

She also acknowledges that one continues to imbibe core values as one rises up the corporate ladder.

"For my part, this went on until I embarked on my career, which has largely been spent at Citibank. Clearly, it was all the more reinforced, certainly in the business that we do, which is being entrusted with people’s money. Next to their children, there’s probably no more valued gift that we can be entrusted with. When our clients put that faith and confidence in us, then it becomes our responsibility to meet their expectations."

As to whether this personal cum corporate view of ethics remains constant and unchanged, or has to adapt to the socio-political environment, Weir falls back on the universal banking practice a multinational corporation must conduct if it is to achieve global acceptance and success.

"I think it is a common thing; certainly it is with Citibank around the world. We have a common standard, and therefore, from country to country, we are all expected to maintain the same procedures, policies and practices. So it is uniform across the world. As you know, we deal in over a hundred countries, and the expectation of the institution is that we behave in a common way in all of those jurisdictions.

She says she cannot even cite an instance in the past when she faced a dilemma in choosing between an obvious ethical position and the practical pursuit of business.

"I think I can attribute that to the business environment. Our standard is well known, so that there is some expectation from our client base, and therefore, what we are doing should always be well within that expectation."

All the Citibank offices throughout the world, she maintains, have to strictly adhere to the code of ethics laid down and practiced by the main office.

"That is the expectation, and that is the requirement of all of our staff. There are international standards, and the expectation is that this is applied uniformly in all our jurisdictions of operations."

In 1999, as the Asian crisis continued to impact on the Philippines, Citibank demonstrated its commitment to the country by arranging major financing packages for private and public sector infrastructure projects under volatile market conditions, and by participating in significant fund-raising efforts by the government. It supported the country’s economic recovery efforts by facilitating the inflow of over $1.2 billion, unmatched among other banks, in new direct foreign investments in strategic industries such as energy, telecommunications and cement, among others. It also introduced new transaction banking products which supported local companies in managing liquidity more efficiently.

Today, no foreign bank in the Philippines comes close to Citibank in terms of the size, breadth, and depth of its franchise, its long-standing involvement in the country’s economic and financial development, its unique contributions to the country’s domestic financial infrastructure and international linkages, and its leadership in providing innovative leading-edge financial products for major sectors and customer groups.

Its long list of pioneering achievements has earned plaudits from various observers and reputable business publications. For the year 2000 it was cited as the Best Foreign Commercial Bank in the Philippines by Finance Asia and the Best Foreign Bank by Euromoney.

While the prevailing wisdom dictates that the Philippine situation makes it different or more difficult to observe a universal code of ethics, especially when compared to other countries in the region, Weir is adamant that any anticipation of such experience has not been shared by her or the Citibank office she manages. In fact she is terse in dismissing the notion.

"I haven’t encountered it. No, absolutely. Not in my experience here. No."

As to whether the observance of corporate ethics eventually becomes part of the task of nation-building, Weir offers a parallel if humbler view.

"I’ve often thought of nation-building as something that governments do, rather than corporations. I think I can only respond to that by saying that we have enjoyed tremendous success here for 98 years. If we have contributed to the Philippine economy, fine. We hope we have. And in our community efforts, we may have actually made a small contribution, and helped along in what you call nation-building. I don’t think, however, that we ever feel so flattered to think that we are ourselves engaged in nation-building. I don’t know that we view it as necessarily the objective, but more the expectation, or what our clients around the world expect from us. Our mission is to meet our clients’ expectations."

Along with local and foreign clients, the country’s finance officials and business leaders have expressed strong satisfaction with Citibank’s performance.

Last year, former Finance Secretary Jose T. Pardo lauded the company thus: "By expanding its presence in the Philippines, Citibank manifests its strong vote of confidence in the Filipino people and Citigroup’s long-term commitment to doing business in our country. We consider Citigroup as an important partner in our country’s development for many years to come."

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Rafael B. Buenaventura echoed the view, saying: "I commend Citibank for its unceasing efforts to achieve banking excellence."

A Presidential Citation awarded to Citigroup last year took note of "its significant and unique contributions, for almost a century, to the development of a resilient and competitive Philippine economy." It also acknowledged Citibank’s "contributions to the education of generations of Filipino banking and business leaders and professionals in government and the private sector," as well as "appreciation of its pioneering role in promoting the country’s potentials in Information Technology for the next millennium as the first locator in the country’s Information Technology Park in Eastwood CyberPark, through its 20-storey state-of-the-art Citibank square."

Weir contends that integrity cannot be defined one way on the personal level, and another on the corporate level.

"I don’t know that they are distinct necessarily. The banking business is all about people. And I would say that principally, the business is about making the decision that is right in each and every situation. Very simply, that is it."

Even safeguards against corruption, Weir believes, can only rest firmly on the fundamental application of accepted practices in any business.

"For our part, we have extremely clear policies and procedures for working with our clients. These have been fairly well-developed worldwide, through our accumulated experiences. And as all things in banking, your policies and procedures and your people are the very best safeguards for protecting the business."

While she allows that corporate ethics may be subject to variations of observance, depending on the arena or venue of business, essentially it has not been so with banking in general, and Citibank in particular.

"Certainly, we all learn, every time, as events go on, as circumstances carry on. And in the typical career of a Citibank professional, as you travel the globe, there are always new challenges, etcetera. But as for the essential observance of personal or corporate ethics, it does not necessarily change. The fundamental route is still serving the clients with the utmost professionalism, while meeting the highest international standards. That doesn’t change, or at least not in my experience in all my years with Citibank."

Should corporate philanthropy be considered part of ethical conduct or simply deemed a salve for what is sometimes considered corporate conscience?

"I think we all have the responsibility to give back, particularly when we experience success, long-running success. We have an absolute responsibility to give back. I don’t necessarily see it as corporate philanthropy. I don’t know what that means. But I think that there is certainly a sense of community awareness on our part. We are very conscious of this, in that we do try to do our best to give back to the community."

Indeed, Citibank has been in the forefront of socio-civic activities. Through Habitat for Humanity Philippines, the company recently funded and built 10 houses for the homeless at the Christian Habitat Village in Las Piñas.

For the past five years, Citibank has also been lending support to former homeless street children of Metro Manila. This year, its special donation will finance the establishment of a school library at the Tuloy sa Don Bosco Street Children Village in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. The donation will be used to equip the library with much-needed books, personal computers, a color printer and various teaching supplies and materials.

Our last questions of Weir elicit further affirmation of a sustained view on ethical conduct. Evidently, to the manner has she been born and trained, so that her responses maintain a commendable consistency of viewpoint and mindset.

Are there ever any extra-legal means of achieving a business objective that can be considered permissible or even salutary?

"From my perspective, first and foremost, as we are a guest in the country that we operate in, we should abide by the laws of that country. And we have been very successful in doing that. Our commitment has always been to abide by the laws of the country. We are successful in doing that, so there are no reasons to alter or reduce this commitment."

Is there any different shape or form that she sees corporate ethics taking in the new millennium?

"I think globalization as expedited by the Internet leads it one step further then we have all envisioned prior to the turn of the millennium. Clearly, we will need to think of corporate governance in the realm of the Internet world. But the fundamentals don’t change, and meeting the highest international standard –whether it be on the Net, or per the old economy or the new economy – should remain paramount for Citibank."

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From Paragons: 23 CEOs on Corporate Ethics, a book project of the Ethics Committee of the Financial Executives of the Philippines or FINEX. Designed and developed by multi-awarded book designer and publisher Studio 5 Designs, the coffeetable book will have an initial limited edition of 1,000 copies, the sale of which will finance the printing of a softcover textbook edition which FINEX will donate to schools offering business courses.