A CITI girl

With an impressive 16 years of strictly vanilla Citi experience behind her, Mirpuri’s career trajectory has seen her ascend in lock-step with Citi’s exponential growth. As the bank celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, she reflects upon her formative years as a novice on the trading floor, bright eyed and bushy-tailed, and just “four years out of law school.” 1996 saw her as the main point of contact for clients in the regional legal department and her role was to support the Asia Pacific Fixed Income and Equity Derivative business. Having to oversee the business across several jurisdictions as their prime lawyer was “daunting,” she admits, but like anyone worth their salt, she rallied formidably and in 2000 was offered a promotion.

The move up came on the back of the 1998 Citigroup Salomon Smith Barney merger and at a time of great flux. Mirpuri nevertheless transitioned smoothly into her role as the Regional Legal counsel for Global Transaction Services in Asia, amidst a flurry of activity. Distinguishing herself as one of only two product specific lawyers in Asia, she flung herself into the business, supporting cash, trade, securities and fund services. And as a pseudo pioneer in this field for the Hong Kong office, she set about establishing standards, drafting core legal documentation and formulating the policies needed to support Citi’s sustained growth.

After witnessing the effects of two major financial crises (in 1997 and 2008 , as well as the nightmare that was SARS in 2003,) Mirpuri feels like she’s weathered some heavy storms and has lived to tell her tale. Fortunately for her, this was not her battle to face down alone, the in-house team had their work cut out for them as well. The 1997 Asian Crisis meant that Citi in Hong Kong had to steer its way through instability and the team were left staring down the barrel of uncertain and changing times.

Together they walked the gauntlet; examining provisos in contracts, introducing new processes and crafting ingenious solutions to meet the needs of skittish clients. Seeing the doughnut for the hole however, she quotes Roman poet Horace “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.” In other words, it gave her and her team a chance to rise to the challenge. Since then, Mirpuri says that the team has “gone about swiftly gathering information to understand the depth of any given scenario or obstacle in order to support the client’s best interests as well as Citi’s” in a symbiotic way. According to Mirpuri, whilst this tested their abilities and their legal resources, it allowed them to “continue to grow in size in terms of the number of lawyers.” Her goal was to try and ensure that the facts were “presented concisely and logically to the client so that the parties could take the right course of action effectively and efficiently.” Not, she emphatically states, to “enforce [their] contractual right immediately.” Discussions and negotiations with the client are always the first port of call before any litigious action is taken, “it allows us to ensure that we provide wherever possible optimal, and amicable solutions” she says.

A decade later, she climbed another step up the food chain and took on her current role working with Citi’s Hong Kong Institutional Client Group, covering local businesses for the bank including Securities and Banking, Global Transaction Services and Local Commercial Bank. “This further challenged my role,” she states, “given the broad scope of businesses it encompasses.”

When asked about the relationship between Citi’s in-house counsel and the business itself, Mirpuri states that every lawyer at Citi is accountable, and some even sit on the management comittee of the business – as “important stakeholders.” Lawyers at the bank are also expected to drive new business and assist with new ventures.
Mirpuri comments that they “engage law firms in order leverage off their global partnerships and ensure that quality advice is given.” But in addition to the external lawyers they look to for assistance, they also work closely with other stakeholders such as the risk, compliance, finance, tax and operations departments, who all play integral roles in serving the legal function.

Critical to Citi’s success she says is the talent they hire. “Obviously we look for a strong academic background and relevant work experience, but we also look for inquisitive minds and people who take ownership in their work and who are accountable for the advice they give.” Energising her team fosters positivity she states, and she does this effectively by choosing to be open with her staff, to confront issues and address them head on before her team hears about them in the media. She is a firm believer in transparency and an open door policy.

Mirpuri does not take all the credit for her rise to the top however. Standing on the shoulders of giants, she admits, has bolstered her success and her longevity with Citi. She attributes this to her supportive network of friends and family. In addition, “Domestic help,” she laughs “is key!” With two children at home, balancing work and motherhood is no easy feat. Having to work past midnight at times, help at home is critical, she elaborates. To make life even easier she keeps everything comfortably within a square mile – a neat “triangular formation around work,” she comments – “access to my family is critical outside of work. Our family leverages technology to check homework and we use communication and gadgets to stick to schedules. Much like at work!”