Banks

Pandit May Retool Citi

12/11/07 - 04:39 PM EST


Updated from 3:02 p.m. EST

Freshly-minted CitigroupC CEO Vikram Pandit may have the toughest task ahead of him as he tries to right Citi's beleaguered ship: breaking up the bank.

The new chief suggested that his first act may be restructuring the behemoth organization to a more manageable level, after ousted CEO Charles Prince saw Citi run into massive losses on esoteric mortgage-backed securities.

"I will undertake an objective and dispassionate review of all the businesses individually and in aggregate," Pandit said Tuesday evening, during his first analyst call after being named CEO. "The goal is to drive profitability, which in turn drives shareholder returns."

Pandit did not provide a timetable for his review or identify which areas specifically he would be reviewing. "It's two hours into this. Give me some time," he commented, responding to an analyst's question.

Pandit's mandate will be threefold. It will include making Citi productive, positioning the financial institution for the future and focusing on its culture -- a culture many have said has been lacking at the 300,000-strong organization.

Pandit was named CEO after a month-long search. Win Bischoff, who had been acting CEO, will take over as chairman.

The long-awaited CEO nomination was not immediately cheered by Wall Street. Citi shares closed down $1.54, or 4.4%, to $33.23.

It's hard to figure which disappointed Wall Street more on Tuesday -- the Federal Reserve and it's 25 basis point cut to the fed funds rate or Citi's board.

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