His first stint was at Citicorp in Corporate Banking in 1972 as a management associate in operations. Six years down the line, he was made CEO of India operations and in 1983, he was heading Hong Kong and China. He caught former Citigroup co-chairman John S Reed's eye, Menezes was named Citibank's senior corporate officer for Africa and Latin America in 1985.

In 1989, he took over the European consumer business and two years later was given charge of consumer banking in US as well. In 1995, he was named CFO following the forced resignation of vice chairman Christopher Steffen and worked on the famous merger that created Citigroup.

Menezes is the Chairman of the Clearing House Association; serves as a trustee of the Asia Society, the Eisenhower Fellowships and the American India Foundation. He was recently named Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Center for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Menezes is also a member of the Advisory Board of INSEAD. Menezes has been Senior Vice Chairman of Citigroup and was a member of Citigroup’s Management Committee and Business Heads Committee.

Menezes played a key role in $3 billion write-off in Latin American debt in 1987.