Citigroup FX Head Bindler to Retire, Pursue Career in Academia

(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., among the world’s biggest currency dealers, said one of its most senior executives is retiring after more than two decades at the lender for a “return to university life.”

James Bindler, head of G-10 currency trading at New York-based Citigroup since 2014, is leaving to pursue a “passion for academics,” according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg. Edwina Frawley-Gangahar, a spokeswoman for the bank in London, confirmed the memo’s contents and declined to comment on who will succeed him.

Citigroup was tied with JPMorgan Chase & Co. as the biggest currency trading firm globally in the first half of 2016, data from Coalition Development Ltd. show. Bindler, who spent 21 years at Citigroup, helped lead the foreign-exchange business as it faced pressure from regulatory probes into whether the world’s biggest banks attempted to rig the $5.1 trillion-a-day market.

“James has been instrumental in growing revenues while also strengthening our conduct risk management frameworks, during a time when there was enormous pressure from all stakeholders,” Nadir Mahmud, Citigroup’s global head of foreign exchange and local markets, wrote in the memo.

FX Weekly reported Bindler’s retirement earlier today.

To contact the reporters on this story: Donal Griffin in London at dgriffin10@bloomberg.net, Patrick Gower in London at pgower@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Paul Armstrong