Citigroup to induct 4 'professional' directors in board shake-up

14 March 2009

Citigroup Inc is getting ready to nominate four financial experts as directors under a plan to revamp the firm's board, according to a report on Friday. The probable nominees include Jerry Grundhofer, former chief executive of US Bancorp, William Thompson, former co-head of bond manager Pimco, and Michael O'Neill, former chief executive officer of Bank of Hawaii Corp.

Citigroup could name at least one more director with a background in risk management, likely a finance professor, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.

"Separately, the chairman of the board of Citigroup has informed us that the company will be altering the board of directors so that a majority of the board will be comprised of new independent directors as soon as feasible," it said.

Beaten-down shares of Citi have jumped more than 60 per cent this week amid the bounce in banking stocks. CEO Vikram Pandit in a memo to employees leaked to the media earlier this week said the bank was profitable during the first two months of the year.

Citigroup is expected to unveil the boardroom shakeup by early next week, when it files its annual proxy statement. The New York-based company is likely to disclose that two current directors will step down due to the mandatory retirement age of 72.

In late February, Chairman Dick Parsons said Citigroup planned to reconstitute its board through a majority of new independent directors.