Citigroup's Pandit Says U.S. Rescued Bank to Preserve `America's Strength'

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said the U.S. government pumped $20 billion into the bank to send a signal that regulators will stand behind the country’s financial system.

“We’re in 109 countries around the world, and Citi’s strength is viewed to be America’s strength in many ways,” Pandit, 51, said in an interview with PBS’s Charlie Rose show that aired yesterday. The bailout “was really about the entire financial system. It was about confidence in the financial system. It was about stability,” he said.

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Better Deal?

Citigroup’s deal, which followed a $25 billion infusion from the Treasury in October, drew criticism from U.S. legislators including Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd. The government should have struck a better deal and insisted on management changes, Dodd said yesterday.

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Investor Criticism

The company has received a total of $45 billion in cash infusions from the government over the past month. The U.S. aid package left the bank’s current management in place, attracting criticism from investors such as Peter Solomon, a former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. vice chairman and founder of Peter J. Solomon & Co. in New York.

“It’s very hard to say we should invest all this money in Citigroup and leave Citigroup management totally intact,” Solomon said in a phone interview. “If a private-equity firm made an investment in Citigroup, how many board members would it ask for?”

Asked whether Citigroup needed to change executives, Pandit said he “can completely understand how people on Main Street, people who are not close to this industry, would be furious at what’s happened.” The most important thing now, he said, “is to make sure that we have a plan for going forward.”

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BLOOMBERG: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aBePEkp8MTZY&refer=us

They are the biggest bank in Russia, with massive interest around the world. Are we not responsible for saving the world? They care so much about us. Hell, why else would they pomote unfair trade laws, if they didn't promote these, the USA would still be manufacturing stuff to sell to them, and that would require us to have jobs, and God knows, we don't want jobs, just ask any republican. We are much happier with goverment welfare.