Citigroup is poised to recruit senior investment bankers to bolster its European business and is understood to have begun interviewing for senior management posts.

The precise positions that Citigroup is recruiting for are not clear, but it could be forced to reshuffle its senior management should JJ McNeil, head of European investment banking, decide to leave. McNeil, a veteran of Schroders, which Citigroup bought in 2000, has taken time off for personal reasons and is thought not to have decided whether he will return when his six months' leave of absence ends in March.