Pandit May Retool Citi

Citigroup's announcement -- which seemed to conveniently hit the tapes a mere moments within the Fed's widely anticipated policy statement -- was much expected after several potential candidates appeared to bow out.

Pandit had been widely considered to be a frontrunner even after only having a roughly five-month tenure at Citi, when he joined via Citi's acquisition of his hedge fund, Old Lane Partners, earlier this year.

Prior to forming Old Lane, he spent more than 20 years in various roles at Morgan Stanley(MS Quote).

Sanford Bernstein bank analyst Brad Hintz, who worked with Pandit at Morgan Stanley for 10 years between 1986 to 1996, described the executive as "one of the smartest people I have ever worked for." "Even when he was at a subsidiary level, he thought like a chairman or a president," Hintz notes.

The analyst, a former CFO at Lehman Brothers, does not cover Citi.

Interim Citi Chairman Robert Rubin echoed those sentiments in a written statement.

"Vikram has earned a reputation as one of the most respected leaders in the financial services industry," Rubin said. "The combination of his deep executive experience and long history as a strategic thinker makes him the outstanding choice to be Citi's CEO."

Rubin will return to his previous duties as a Citi board member after Bischoff, who previously served as the head of Citi's businesses in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, takes the helm.