Citigroup's Asia Head Joining MasterCard

(Adds MasterCard info in first and second graphs.)

Citigroup (C) said late Friday that Ajay Banga, the head of Asia Pacific region, is leaving the firm and published reports said he was tkaing the number two spot at MasterCard (MA).

Banga, 49, who has been with the firm for the past 13 years, will join MasterCard in August to become president and chief operating officer , as well as heir apparent to CEO Robert Selander, according to The Wall Street Journal. Citi plans to name a replacement shortly, it said.

As Citi's CEO of Asia Pacific, Banga was in charge of the company's business lines in the region, including institutional banking, alternative investments, wealth management, consumer banking and credit cards.

Banga served in a variety of positions and businesses while at Citi.

He was head of CitiFinancial and the U.S. Consumer Assets division from 2000 to 2002. From 2005 to 2008, he was chairman and CEO of Citi's International Global Consumer Group, which included Citi's credit card and consumer banking operations outside of North America. He also served as president of Citi's retail banking in North America, which is primarily its domestic retail business.

Citi received $45 billion worth of government bailout funds and just recently launched an exchange offer to convert an additional amount of the government's preferred stake into common equity. Other large institutions including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), American Express (AXP) and Bank of New York Mellon (BK) repurchased the government's preferred stakes earlier this week.

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