He said Hong Kong had one of the best-regulated banking industries in Asia-Pacific.

In 1985, Citibank became the first player to launch consumer banking in India.

'Banks in India before that were pretty much only into corporate, wholesale and investment banking. So we sort of pioneered the consumer banking category and it was very exciting,' Mr Malik said.

Mr Malik replaced 30-year Citibank veteran Danny Liu, who has retired. But he said his appointment would not mean any significant shift in the bank's Hong Kong strategy, saying it was the firm's policy to swap senior management between different markets.

Citibank has taken several steps to enhance its Hong Kong profile this year. The bank announced it would incorporate its Hong Kong business, most likely to take advantage of the closer economic partnership arrangement with the mainland.

It is also setting up more branches for its wealth management and consumer finance businesses. The bank aims at opening three more 'CitiGold' centres and a further eight 'CitiFinancial' branches by the end of the year.

Mr Malik said he hoped to double the number of CitiGold customers - those with more than $1 million in liquid assets - in the next three years.

One urgent task will be expanding distribution channels, a challenge Mr Malik felt well suited for after spending the past three years as the head of card business, marketing services and internet banking in India. Upgrading internet banking services is also a priority.

'We already have a pretty good internet offering in Hong Kong,' he said. 'But this is an area that has kept evolving and we want to make sure that we're the best in the class in terms of using it as an acquisition channel and in terms of using it as a channel to reduce account maintenance costs.'