Citi announced Thursday that it has hired Marty Lippert away from Royal Bank of Canada to be Citi's new CIO and corporate operations and technology COO, replacing Marvin Adams, who moved to Fidelity in December. Lippert has been asked to "drive transformational change" across Citi's newly centralized global technology and operations divisions, working closely with Kevin Kessinger, Citi's chief operations and technology officer.

"In today's global environment, our competitiveness is dependent on having leading technology and operational capabilities," said Vikram Pandit, Citi's Chief Executive Officer. "Marty's appointment emphasizes the importance we place on technology in driving enterprise transformation, and we'll look to him to be a key architect of that change. This role is central to Citi's commitment to operational excellence and cost management, and we are excited to have Marty on board to help orchestrate what we believe will be one of the great turnarounds in US corporate history."

"Marty brings a unique combination of business and industry acumen to this critical role," Mr. Kessinger said. "We will look to him to advance Citi's business strategy by developing technology and operational platforms that are robust, agile, and cost effective. His role will involve the design and deployment of globally integrated solutions that are client-centric, and will reclaim Citi's position as an innovative leader in the financial services industry."

Previously, Lippert was vice chairman and group head of global technology and operations for Royal Bank of Canada. He also spent 16 years at Mellon Bank, where he was executive vice president for information management and research and chief financial officer of technology.