Citigroup CEO Pandit Isn't the Problem

Citigroup's (C Quote) CEO Vikram Pandit is again under fire, this time from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., but a new executive is not necessarily what the troubled institution needs right now.

The FDIC is pushing for a shake-up of Citi's top management, The Wall Street Journal reports Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Some federal officials are apparently frustrated at the company's "pace of change," according to the article. The FDIC is also concerned about the "lack of senior executives with experience in commercial banking," the Journal says.

But some observers say that Pandit, who was hired in December 2007 after ex-chairman and CEO Charles Prince was fired, is doing all that he can to right the company.

"I can't sit here and say this current management team has made a ton of missteps," says Anton Schutz, president of Mendon Capital Advisors and the fund manager to Burnham Financial Services. The firm owns shares of Citi.

"I don't understand why there is a move always to push Vikram out, Schutz says. "He's done a lot. There's been a lot he's had to do."

Richard Bove, an analyst at Rochdale Securities, also has confidence in Pandit.

"Working together with the help of executives like Edward Kelly, Citigroup's CFO and another talented executive, they have the capability to resurrect the company," Bove writes in a note Friday.

The company has been working to pare down its balance sheet and risk as it seeks to shore up capital and redirect the company into a more tailored global bank. Citi has received more than $45 billion from the federal government over several rounds since October and some $300 billion more in guarantees on risky assets.