Citi today announced that it has appointed Mr. Laszlo M. Balassy as the General Manager of Citi Markets & Banking, Citibank Zrt. in Hungary. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of Citibank Zrt. since 30th June, 2006.

Mr. Balassy has worked for Citi for over 14 years, in assignments that include Head of Local Currency Debt Capital Markets in Budapest, Senior Transactor in Syndicated Loans Structuring in London, Corporate Finance Head of Central Europe, as well as running several risk analytics and coverage teams. He has been responsible for several benchmark financings and structured debt transactions, as well as key advisory assignments for leading local companies, multinationals and governments in Central Europe.

Prior to joining Citi, Mr. Balassy worked for Arthur Andersen, Ford Motor Credit Company, and the Japanese Ministry of Education in Tokyo. He holds Bachelor of Science Degrees in Finance and Economics, graduated Summa Cum Laude from University of Detroit.

Mr. Balassy is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary as well as of United Way Hungary, and is a guest lecturer at Central European University and Corvinus University of Budapest. He is married and has two children.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Balassy said: "We are excited about the potential of the Hungarian market and believe Citi is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this growth. We will be focusing on strengthening the local nature of our franchise, while leveraging the advantages of our global product platforms for the benefit of our clients."