Citi names de Vecchi European Investment Banking Chairman

Citigroup Inc has appointed veteran dealmaker Luigi de Vecchi as chairman for corporate and investment banking in continental Europe, it said in an emailed statement on Monday.

De Vecchi, who was previously global co-head of investment banking at Credit Suisse and has also worked at Goldman Sachs , will be based in Italy and is part of the U.S. bank's plan to beef up its investment banking franchise in the region.

"Continental Europe remains one of our largest growth opportunities and we look forward to leveraging Luigi's deal experience and relationships across the region," Raymond J. McGuire, global head of corporate and investment banking at Citi said in the statement.

The senior hire follows the U.S. bank's latest restructuring plan announced under new chief executive Mike Corbat who took over in October.

He unveiled a $1.1 billion expense reduction plan in Dec including the elimination of 11,000 jobs or 4 percent of the workforce in a bid to deliver more value to shareholders.

Corbat said Citi's various businesses were combating competitive and regulatory problems, as well as issues dating to the financial crisis that continue to plague the bank.

Whilst cutting back on headcount, the U.S. bank is also hoping to streamline its operations to gain greater market share in designated core markets and sectors.

Citi ranked fifth globally for investing banking fees in 2012 but slipped to eight place in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

(Reporting By Anjuli Davies; Editing by David Cowell)