Pundits conduct last rites for Citi's Pandit

WASHINGTON: In December, Vikram Pandit was the toast of the financial world, US corporate badshahs, the immigrant community, NRIs, and sundry sub-groups when he was appointed CEO of Citigroup, one of the world���s largest financial institutions.

Less than a year later, a dirge is doing the rounds with reports that Citigroup���s board is considering firing the India-born Pandit. Citigroup is sinking as the US financial crisis deepens, taking with it some 300,000 employees in more than 100 countries across the world.

On Friday, its share price dipped to $3.77, another 20% decline from its $4.71 close the previous day, and a breathtaking 75% drop from the time Pandit took charge.

Now, there is talk of Uncle Sam taking over Citigroup, a la Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because it would be a worldwide disaster if the financial behemoth collapsed.

Wall Street and Washington DC reckon Citi is "too big to fail". And the sacrificial lamb in this rescue act is being identified as Pandit. "What happens next for Citigroup will have ramifications for the global financial system "the Wall Street Journal warned on Friday. It was one of several publications that are writing Pandit���s corporate obituary.

Pandit is being pilloried in some quarters for not moving fast enough to rid Citi of its toxic assets. Others say he has acted too aggressively. His decision to lay off 52,000 employees last week in a bid to cut costs has inflamed workers. One financial "pundit" blamed him for scattershot tactics and called him the "most under-performing, value-destroying CEO out there".

But not everyone is blaming Pandit. The Economist was one journal that defended him, saying Citi���s "deeprooted identity crisis is not Mr Pandit���s fault," and that he basically inherited a mess.

Pandit is not the only Indian-origin financial guru in the firing line. Neel Kashkari, the Bush administration���s head of the Office of Financial Stability and Karthik Ramanathan, acting assistant secretary of treasury are also facing fierce criticism.

Career graph

��� Moved to the US when he was 16 to study at Columbia University

��� Joined Morgan Stanley in 1990

��� In 2000, became president and CEO of the Institutional Securities and Investment Banking Group at Morgan Stanley

��� On December 11, 2007, named the CEO of Citigroup