Citi's capital position remains strong: Vikram Pandit

NEW YORK: Blaming rumour mongers for the sharp plunge in share price as well as for many other problems at Citigroup, its India-born CEO Vikram Pandit on Friday told his key associates that the bank was not considering a sell-out and continues to enjoy a strong capital position.

Seeking to allay concerns generated by various media reports that Citi was looking to sell itself in parts or whole, Pandit reportedly told some of his senior employees in a morning call today that he and the board wanted to keep the bank together, a media report said.

According to an online report by British newspaper Telegraph, Pandit said that "rumour-mongering remains at the heart of Citigroup's problems".

In an attempt to reassure that Citigroup was not facing any funding crisis, Pandit said that he and the board wanted to keep Citigroup together and the "bank's capital position remains strong", the report added.

At the same time, investors continued to dump shares of Citigroup in early morning trade, in the midst of the crisis- ridden bank becoming a target of a slew of media reports indicating a possible distress sale in whole or parts.



A day after it lost more than a quarter of its value with a plunge of 26 per cent yesterday, Citi shares today again fell by over 20 per cent in the first half-an-hour of trade -- reversing an early gain of over five per cent when some investors were seen cautiously buying Citigroup shares lured by expectations of a buyout offer.

A slew of media reports, all quoting unnamed sources familiar with the matter, suggested that Citigroup was holding a board meeting today, preceded by a brief by Pandit to his key lieutenants, on various options to bail the bank out of the crisis.