The bank had some trubs figuring out the whole private jet/taxpayer outrage thing but it looks like someone over there is (kind of, sort of) getting the hang of it! In light of “economic concerns” Citi canceled an annual job well done weekend getaway for its 2,000 top brokers, which seems sort of huge. Of course, not everyone is pleased and some people are downright outraged(!), regarding the matter of the Big C apparently distributing $3.5 million in Sorry We Axed Your Trip gift cards to advisers in 1, 2 and 3,000 dollar increments in lieu of the vacay. “These people are outrageous,” said compensation consultant Jim Reda told the Post. “It’s an unnecessary expense that really doesn’t do much besides cost money.” The long version of Smith Barney spokesman Alex Samuelson’s response (short version: get off my ass):

“In one of the most aggressive recruiting environments in the history of our industry, we have prudently balanced the recognition and development needs of our highest achieving financial advisers with the need to significantly reduce business expenses during this difficult time

As an aside to the Post, re the accompanying graphic– you’re better than this. At the bare minimum, it should’ve depicted Vikram shoving those cards in that broker’s g-string.