Citigroup chief unveils his new executive team to lead financial giant

CEO Mike Corbat said that investment banker Jamie Forese will be head of institutional business and co-president of the company with Manuel Medina-Mora, who will continue to oversee global consumer banking and Citi’s franchise in Mexico.

Mr Corbat decided not to fill the post of chief operating officer, which was held by John Havens, who left when Mr Corbat was named on October 16 to replace Vikram Pandit as CEO.

In January 2011, Mr Pandit had put Havens, a longtime ally from their days managing a hedge fund, in charge of day-to-day operations and assigned him responsibility for several managers so he could focus on broader goals.

The new organisational chart shows 13 managers under Mr Corbat and includes chiefs of major business categories, executives who oversee four major regions and managers in companywide functions.

The goal of the structure is to “strike the right balance of authority and responsibility,” Mr Corbat said in a memo to employees.

At the same time, Mr Corbat has given Mr Forese and Mr Medina-Mora oversight of the operations and technology support staff for their individual business lines. Chief administrative officer Don Callahan’s responsibilities have narrowed to companywide support.

Mr Corbat, 52, can now begin to step out in public more after putting his executive team in place and spending nearly three months focusing on internal matters and relationships with regulators and Citigroup’s biggest investors and clients.

The company was set by the end of yesterday to submit a capital plan to Federal Reserve officials to test scenarios of economic stress.

On December 5, Mr Corbat marked the completion of his budget by announcing a plan to eliminate 11,000 jobs, or about 4 per cent of Citigroup’s workforce.

Citigroup and other financial lenders are under added pressure to reduce costs because of less demand for loans, lower profits from lending and tighter regulations.

Mr Forese and Mr Medina-Mora, the two executives under Mr Corbat with the most responsibility, were at the company before Mr Pandit became CEO in 2007.

The new team includes Brian Leach, chief risk officer, who with Mr Pandit was a founder of the Old Lane hedge fund that Citigroup bought in the mid-2000s. Mr Leach will now hold the title of head of franchise risk and strategy and be responsible for audit, compliance, corporate policy and strategy, in addition to risk management.