Citigroup announced seven new appointments for its Australia and New Zealand business on Monday across verticals, as the financial services major aims to strengthen these markets.

The appointments are across markets sales, asset-backed securitization & financing, G10 rates trading, corporate access, forex and equities electronic execution teams, it said in a statement.

Citi Markets business supports the diverse investment and transaction strategies of corporations, governments, investors and intermediaries.

Insider Peter Hext joined as the head of asset-backed securitization & financing for Australia and New Zealand. Hext, who has been with Citi for more than 13 years, most recently served as the head of commercial asset-backed securitization in New York.

Dan Birch joined Citi as head of markets sales, New Zealand responsible for driving client engagement in New Zealand.

Other appointments include that of Ankit Khandelwal to the G10 rates trading team and Melanie Vandervord to the access strategies team covering Australia and New Zealand.

Additionally, it expanded its corporate forex sales team with two new appointments and added a new sales trader to the equities electronic execution team.

"The Australia and New Zealand Markets business is experiencing material growth, and these recent appointments will strengthen our ability to deliver increased value to our clients," said Cristina Chang, head of Citi Australia and New Zealand Markets.

"We are investing in our capabilities to ensure we have the skills and experience needed to meet our clients' complex needs in a dynamic market environment," she added.

(Reporting by Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)