‘We want to be a winner’

Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup, said she had decided to leave the bank’s retail operations in 13 countries outside the US to improve returns.

One of the biggest priorities for Fraser, who took over from predecessor Michael Corbat in February, is to bring the revenues of Citigroup in New York closer to those of peers, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

“As we look at the businesses a decade ahead, we want to be a winner,” Fraser told CNBC’s Wilfred Frost on ‘Closing Bell’ in her first television interview since she officially took over as CEO.

“We want to reduce the rate of return with our peers,” Fraser said. “To do this, take an open-ended assessment of which businesses you will be able to win, and which business might be in better hands in another bank.”

Last week, Citi said it wants to leave retail banking in 13 countries outside the U.S. to focus more on wealth management, one of the first major strategic steps Fraser has taken. The credit provider also reported first-quarter results that outperformed analysts’ profit calculations with strong investment banking investment revenue and a larger-than-expected release of loan loss reserves.

There are clear opportunities for Citigroup, the third largest U.S. bank by assets behind JPMorgan and Bank of America, the CEO said.

The bank is doubling in areas, including its global institutional banking business and wealth management in Asia and the US, she said.

And Fraser is not yet done with her strategic review, which could lead to more business rejections.