By IANS
New York : Indian American banker Vikram S. Pandit, who joined Citigroup seven months ago, appears to be emerging as the financial group’s choice for a new chief executive over former Pakistan premier Shaukat Aziz, the New York Times has reported.
As the group closes in on the final decision, the board appears to be leaning toward an insider, the Times said citing people briefed on the situation. And the inside candidate is Pandit, a former Morgan Stanley investment banker, they said.
But they cautioned that no final decision had been made and that the four-member search committee, led by Richard D. Parsons, was reviewing other candidates, the Times said.
While the Times story did not name Aziz, US media has speculated about his candidature. Business.view for one named Aziz, who had worked for Citibank for 30 years before becoming President Pervez Musharraf’s finance minister in 1999, as its top choice.
It noted that the 58-year-old joined Citibank in 1969, and worked in various parts of its global empire – including Britain, Greece and Malaysia – before eventually becoming the global head of Citi’s private bank. “So he knows the firm well, and certainly has good international experience.”
The Times said the board is hoping that a chief executive can be named within the next week. The search has been difficult and no clear choice has emerged. But support on the search committee seemed to be building for Pandit, it said citing a person briefed on the situation.
A Citigroup spokeswoman, Christina Pretto, declined to comment but pointed to a memorandum released last week that said the search “should be completed expeditiously”.
The choice of Pandit would probably mean that Robert E. Rubin would stay on as chairman for a while longer, the Times suggested.
Rubin, who reluctantly took the job after Charles O. Prince III resigned in early November, has said that he joined Citigroup as a director and adviser with no intention of having a hands-on role. Rubin and Pandit have declined to comment.
Rubin, who has been an advocate for Pandit, was instrumental in bringing him to Citigroup in April to head its alternative investment group when it paid an estimated $800 million to buy Old Lane Partners, the hedge fund he founded in April 2006.
In a few months, Pandit, 50, saw his responsibilities broaden to include both the alternative investments group and the much bigger investment bank.
Pandit’s familiarity around Citigroup’s Park Avenue headquarters might give him a jump-start. His experience in emerging markets, including his native India, could help sell Citigroup’s strategy to become even more international, and his selection would allow directors to say that they had selected an insider, the Times said.
Though praised for his risk-management skills and intellect, Pandit is more technocrat than charismatic leader. He has never been head of a public company, let alone one as big and unwieldy as Citigroup.
And he has never run a consumer operation, an area that faces several strategic questions. The board may also be weighing the potential fallout if Pandit is promoted and other executives leave.
Pandit has been shrewd about playing down his interest in the job. When asked in April about his ambition to one day become Citigroup’s chief executive, he shot back: “Let me be blunt. None.” But associates say that in the last few months he has warmed to the possibility, the Times said.
Citigroup hired Prince Goldsmith, a boutique search firm that helped bring Pandit and Gary L. Crittenden to the bank, to explore possible contenders for the chief executive job.
The Times said the choice of Pandit could hinge on Rubin’s willingness to stay on. Publicly, Rubin has been saying he is committed to Citigroup. Some critics, though, suggest his heart really lies in advising a Democratic presidential campaign.
Yet staying on longer could help Rubin repair his legacy. While he earned high marks as head of Goldman Sachs and Treasury Department, his record at Citigroup has been tarnished, it said.
Pandit has previously served as the president and chief operating officer of the Institutional Securities and Investment Banking Group at Morgan Stanley (2000-2005) where he was responsible for the overall management of the group and focused on the trading, sales and infrastructure aspects of the business.
Before that, he served as managing director and head of the Worldwide Institutional Equities Division (1994-2000), and as the managing director and head of the US Equity Syndicate (1990-1994) for Morgan Stanley.
Pandit has served on the NASDAQ stock market board as director from 2000 to 2003. He is also a trustee of The Trinity School in Manhattan.
Pandit received an MS degree in 1977 and a BS degree in electrical engineering in 1976 from Columbia University. He also earned a PhD in Finance from Columbia University in 1986.
The Pandit family is from Dhantoli, Nagpur and he has lived in Nagpur and Mumbai in Maharashtra.