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Citigroup's decision to sell most of its Asian retail business after more than a century of operations marks an end of an era for several markets.

Long after its rivals gave up on being a bank for everyone across the world, Citi under new Chief Executive Jane Fraser is following suit (theo chân, nối gót) in exiting subscale, underperforming consumer banking operations in China, India, Thailand and seven other Asian markets as well as three elsewhere.

While the impact on the countries' banking markets will be mostly symbolic, given that their citizenry are increasingly served by local and regional players, Citi's exit removes an institution that is the largest foreign bank in a number of markets and partly dismantles one of most far-flung international networks around.

Analysts and bankers expect rivals to show interest in buying some of the businesses that Citi is exiting, such as its Australia and India units, but they expect the sale process for others could be slow.

The bank's Asia-Pacific history goes back to 1902. Citi currently employs 50,000 across 16 Asian markets and serves 17 million direct consumer clients,