One firm. One community.

Jane Fraser’s note to colleagues below. 

This week I am in the Middle East spending time with clients and colleagues. When we scheduled this trip some time ago, little did we know that the region would be in the throes of its most serious crisis in decades. I have been coming here for many years and the gravity of the situation is palpable.

The loss of innocent lives, starting with the October 7th terrorist attack on Israel and now farther reaching, has been gut-wrenching, putting a strain on our entire Citi family, with our people in the region bearing the brunt of it. Despite many of them being personally impacted, our colleagues in Israel and throughout the region continue to go to extraordinary lengths to serve our clients in what is a very dangerous situation.

Now that humanitarian corridors are slowly being established, we are very cognizant of the potential impact that large numbers of displaced people could have on several countries, including Egypt and Lebanon, where we have a presence. President Biden has been making a sustained diplomatic effort to ensure humanitarian aid for affected civilians and is providing U.S. funds as well. Consistent with those efforts, the Citi Foundation is making an additional $1 million in emergency grants between UNICEF and Save the Children, who are and will be providing emergency medical and food assistance in the impacted areas as the situation evolves. This is in addition to the $1 million grant the Foundation made to Leket Israel two weeks ago. 

As a global company, our colleagues represent the full spectrum of faiths and nationalities. Our strength is the respect we have for each other and our ability to come together as one Citi family. We are one firm, one community. We stand united against antisemitism, Islamophobia and acts of hatred in any form, and act swiftly when we see it. In this way, we can be a model for the respectful dialogue that we hope to see in the world.

Thank you,

Jane Fraser