Citi board nominates four new independent directors

Citigroup, today announced that it has nominated four new independent directors as part of revamping the board after having received three bailouts from the US government. (See: Citigroup to induct 4 'professional' directors in board shake-up)

The New York-based said in a released statement that the nominated directors are Jerry A. Grundhofer, chairman emeritus and retired chairman and CEO of the Bancorp, Michael E. O'Neill, retired chairman and CEO Bank of Hawaii, Anthony M. Santomero Ph.D., recently a senior advisor at McKinsey & Company, who has served as the ninth president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and William S. Thompson, Jr. retired CEO of PIMCO, the world's leading fixed income investment management company.

''This is a solid slate of candidates with extensive banking and financial services experience, a deep understanding of international credit and equity markets, and first-hand knowledge of the governing regulatory system,'' said Richard Parsons, Chairman of the Board.

''These outstanding individuals will be great stewards for Citi as it navigates the ongoing challenges in the present environment and works to restore profitability. As I said earlier this year, we are committed to reconstituting the Board with a majority of new independent directors. The election of these candidates will be a major step toward achieving our goal,'' he added.

The Citi board currently has 15 directors, three of whom previously announced that they will not be standing for election at the April Annual Meeting and two of whom will reach retirement age by the time of the meeting.

The remaining 10 directors are up for re-election. With the election of the four new candidates announced today, the total number of board members would be 14. The bank said that the board will consider future additions as well.