Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Despite calls by numerous shareholders to break up Citigroup and spin off poorly performing businesses, it looks like CEO Vikram Pandit will be taking his cues from Al Green today: Let’s stay together. As reported by the New York Post, today's analyst and investor meeting will not involve Pandit announcing plans to dump Citigroup's integrated bank model.
Still, to the surprise of some on Wall Street, Pandit said in his presentation early Friday that Citi plans to spike $400 billion of assets, or about 20 percent of its total, over the next two or three years, Reuters reports. These assets include real estate, leveraged commitments, sub-prime collateralized-debt obligations and structured investment vehicles.
Already, in the six months since taking the crown after the fall of Prince, Pandit has, according to Lehman Brothers Analyst Jason Goldberg, "replaced several key executives, sold off non-core assets and conducted a thorough review of the company's business."
Is it enough to silence the angry crowd? Well, if we see torches alight at 399 Park Avenue by the closing bell, I think we've got our answer.
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