Today, our good friends at Citibank N.A. issued a 2yr FXD/FRN in honor of International Women’s Day (“IWD”), which was last Wednesday, March 8th. IWD is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women among others. So, today it was a privilege and an honor to step aside and watch as Team Citi once again showed why they have been and continue to be a leading force for diversity in our IG dollar DCM.  Congratulations to the continued collective team efforts of everyone at Team Citi! The nation’s oldest Service Disabled Veteran broker dealer sends its five-star salute to each of you and as well as to all the women in our world and lives. The seven featured Women-Owned diversity broker dealer/investment banks on today’s Citibank N.A. “IWD” deal were:

• L. King & Associates
• CAPIS Institutional Services, Inc.
• Lebenthal & Company LLC.
• MFR Securities, Inc.
• Siebert, Cisneros Shank & Cop., L.L.C.
• Telsey Advisory Group
• Tigress Financial Partners

Why would the financial industry’s oldest (and arguably largest) minority broker-dealer owned/operated by Service-Disabled Veterans  tout competing minority broker-dealers?  Well, I’d ask “why wouldn’t we?!”  Firstly, its the right thing to do! Second, it provides us the opportunity to showcase one of the global capital market’s leading and cutting edge D&I initiatives, while tipping our hat to the leading women in our diversity space.  So, congratulations for the glass ceilings raised and doors that Citigroup has helped open at their own financial institution through their own incredible procurement initiatives, as well as externally for all these leading women-owned firms. We extend a hardy congratulations to the respective women of D&I in our financial services industry. All for one, and one for all!

So, where do all these ideas originate?  A good place to start looking is from the top down at Citigroup.  Today I would suggest looking first in the office of one Suni Harford….

Who is Suni Harford?

Suni Harford, Citigroup

Suni Harford is a Managing Director and Citigroup’s Regional Head of Markets for North America. In this capacity, Suni oversees the North American sales, trading and origination businesses of Citi’s securities and banking franchise. Citi maintains a premier position across all of its fixed income, currency, equity and commodities offerings. In addition to her current responsibilities, Suni is a member of Citi’s Pension Plan Investment Committee, and a Director on the Board of Citibank Canada. Suni is also the co-head of Citigroup’s global women’s initiative, Citi Women.

Prior to her current assignment, Suni was Citi’s Global Head of Fixed Income research, where she was responsible for Citigroup’s credit analytics, research strategy and fixed income quantitative analytics efforts globally. Suni also had oversight of Citi’s premier fixed-income analytics platform, The Yield Book. From 1995-2004, Suni served as the co-head of Citi’s Fixed Income Capital Markets origination business, where she managed relationships with financial institutions.

Not that she doesn’t have enough on her plate, Suni also serves on the Board of Directors of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, the Board of Directors of The Forte Foundation, a national, non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the number of women leaders in business, the Board of the Friends of Hudson River Park, and the Board of Taproot Foundation, a national organization engaged in skills-based volunteerism and pro-bono philanthropy. Suni is also passionate about awareness and support for our veteran community, and she is involved in many organizations in this regard. In addition to serving on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Veteran’s Employment Advisory Council, Suni has worked with First Lady Michele Obama’s Joining Forces initiative. Suni also represents Citi as a founding member of Veterans on Wall Street, a coalition of major financial services firms established in 2010 to engage the broader industry in efforts to support our transitioning veterans. Having helped formalize Citi’s very successful Veterans Initiative, CitiSalutes, in 2009, Suni remains the senior business sponsor for the initiative.

For those not already aware of her pedigree, Suni joined Salomon Brothers in January 1993, after five years with Merrill Lynch & Co. where she was a Vice President in Investment Banking. Suni joined Merrill upon graduation from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, where she received her M.B.A. Suni received her Bachelor of Science degree from Denison University, where she majored in physics and math.

Pretty impressive stuff right there folks. Now you know why Suni Harford was named one of  2016’s Top 20 Most Powerful Women on Wall Street!

So, in light of International Women’s Day and today’s honorable $2b Citibank N.A. “IWD” two-part new issue a “thank you”– not only to Suni, but to all the women in our investment grade debt capital markets and in our lives in addition to those who help perpetuate a more inclusive financial services industry.

Before I conclude, a bit of Women-on-Wall Street trivia for you from the guy-in-the-corner’s personal treasure trove –

to continue reading, please visit the 13 March edition of Quigley’s Corner investment grade corporate debt commentary via this link