Citi executives leave mailroom for the C-suite

“It’s one thing to develop clever technology, ” said Chris Cox, head of equities and securities services for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Citigroup.“But the thing that drives investor benefit is industry adoption."

NEW YORK CITY: Citigroup Inc’s Dean Little and Jonathan Smalley learned the proxy voting process the hard way: in the mailroom.

The two spent years inside Citigroup’s custody business managing various ways shareholders cast votes for an annual meeting - including by fax and old-fashioned mail.