Karen Peetz to join Citi in newly created role

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Karen Peetz, a veteran banker who has served in key roles at Bank of New York Mellon and Wells Fargo, is joining Citigroup as chief administrative officer.

Peetz, whose position is newly created, will report to CEO Michael Corbat. She will be charged with centralizing management of big projects in different parts of the New York-based company, including strengthening Citi’s data architecture and enhancing its efforts to combat money laundering.

Peetz will also be responsible for creating greater consistency in the company’s dealings with its regulators.

“We need to instill best practices, measure ourselves against consistent benchmarks and streamline decision-making across the firm,” Corbat said Wednesday in an internal memo that announced the hiring.

Peetz will take over some responsibilities that previously fell to Citibank CEO Mary McNiff, who is moving into a new role as chief compliance officer for Citigroup. The company’s previous chief compliance officer, Mark Carawan, is retiring. All of the personnel changes take effect on June 8.

Corbat will become CEO of Citibank, in addition to his role as chief executive of the bank’s parent company. He wrote that the Citibank CEO position was created during the financial crisis amid a massive corporate restructuring, and noted that other big banks have the same person leading both the bank and its holding company.

Peetz spent nearly 20 years at BNY Mellon, where she served as president from 2013 to 2016. Her role included responsibility for its global innovation efforts and regulatory oversight functions.

She also served as erved as chair of the Penn State University Board of Trustees in the wake of the sex abuse scandal involving onetime assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

From 2017 to 2019, Peetz served on Wells Fargo’s board, including a stint as chair of the company’s risk committee. Peetz had said she chose not to stand for reelection to the board so she could devote more time to other commitments.