Pandit: "Our commitment to our clients remains unchanged."

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From: vikrampandit@citi.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 2:10 PM
Subject: Message from Vikram

Dear Citi Colleagues,
I want to make sure you know that we've moved up our Q4 2008 earnings
announcement to this coming Friday, January 16. Since we are ready to
release 4th quarter earnings and talk about 2009 and the future, we saw
no need to wait.
As I told you yesterday in my video message, economics and psychology
are both important in the markets. The economic model of our business is
sound and positions the company for success over the long term. The
clarity we provide as we report earnings should address the psychology
of the market.
Until then, here are the things you should know:
* While we are embarked on a long-term transformation of Citi, our core
mission is unchanged. Our goal is to streamline our operations,
strengthen our balance sheet, position ourselves to take advantage of
historic global growth opportunities, and deliver to clients all the
benefits of our strength, insight, and unique global reach.
* We are and will remain a bank. We will continue to help clients save,
borrow, invest, transact, and we will provide them advice.
* Our commitment to our clients remains unchanged. We will continue to
deliver what our clients expect from us. That is our firm commitment.
Please reiterate that to the customers and clients you speak with today.
We continue to be focused on creating value for our shareholders and
debt holders and restoring profitability sooner rather than later.
Thank you for your dedication, focus, and hard work. I look forward to
speaking with you on Friday.

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News

Vikram Pandit Is Committed To Getting Paid

If you didn't know Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit, you might think he enjoyed not being compensated for the work he does at Citigroup because for quite some time, he wasn't. And although the "I will only get paid $1/year until Citi turns a profit" exercise was fun for a while, he was pretty happy when the old jalopy started making money again, in part because it meant he could receive a paycheck. Then last April, his shareholders rejected the bank's executive pay plan, claiming the Big C "lets Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit collect millions of dollars in rewards too easily." And while it's possible that Citi shareholders are just a bunch of pricks who chose to overlook the fact that Uncle Vikula didn't collect squat for several years and once had an entire article written about the fact that lieutenants attributed a "new bounce in his step" to him daydreaming "the day when he is going to earn more than a $1 a year,” maybe they just assume that he doesn't care about getting paid either way? Anyway, here's Vickles, reminding anyone who forgot about the sacrifices he made and setting the record straight: “The board has this process with them, they’re going through it, and they are committed, as I am, to making sure that they resolve this,” Pandit said. “I want to get paid what the board thinks is right for me, for the job that I’ve done and for the incentives that they think I ought to have.” Pandit told lawmakers in 2009 that he would take a $1 annual salary until he restored the bank to profitability. Citigroup made a $21.7 billion profit for 2011 and 2010 combined, compared with a $29.3 billion loss for the two preceding years. “When the company was losing money, I stepped up and said I’ll take a dollar a year and I did, exactly for that reason, exactly the right thing to do,” Pandit said. For those having trouble separating the nice guy/don't want to offend anyone statement from what he's actually trying to say, a rough translation of the above would be: get me paid, bitch! Citigroup Will Resolve CEO Pay By End Of Year, Pandit Says [Bloomberg]