Citigroup Inc's relationship with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp is frayed, sources told Reuters, and the regulator wants to replace Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, the Wall Street Journal reported.
US officials have spoken to former US Bancorp Chief Executive Jerry Grundhofer, who recently joined Citigroup's board, to assess his interest in the top position at the bank, the paper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The FDIC, under Chairman Sheila Bair, is concerned there are too few senior executives at the bank with commercial banking experience, the paper reported.
The FDIC recently pressed another regulator to reduce its confidential ranking of Citi's health, the paper said. Such a move would let regulators control the company more tightly. The Financial Times said Citigroup recently had to delay raising $33 billion in capital after the FDIC warned it was in discussions to place the company on the list of banks at greater risk of failure as part of its efforts to replace Pandit.
Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Ned Kelly told the Wall Street Journal that "the FDIC is our tertiary regulator," behind the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve.
The FDIC is heavily exposed to Citigroup. The bank had roughly $300 billion of deposits in the United States as of March 31, much of which were guaranteed by the agency. The bank has sold about $40 billion of debt guaranteed by the FDIC, according to Reuters data.