Citigroup Traders Bansal, Yanney Exit as Pandit Cuts Staff
January 18, 2012, 8:16 AM ESTBy Donal Griffin and Kristen Haunss
(Updates with shares and CFO comment starting in fifth paragraph.)
Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., the third-biggest U.S. bank by assets, shuffled its North American credit-trading desk, causing two senior traders to depart as the firm reduces staff, people familiar with the matter said.
Rohit Bansal, who led distressed-debt trading, and high- yield bond trading boss Chris Yanney have left the New York- based bank, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is private. Scott Balkan, who ran investment- grade bond trading, replaces Bansal while head of loan trading James Nessel takes Yanney’s duties, the people said.
A job-cutting plan may eliminate about 5,000 positions, the bank said today, after Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit predicted in December that 4,500 workers may go. The company reported fourth-quarter profit today that missed analysts’ estimates, as revenue from bond trading fell 57 percent from the third quarter, including so-called credit-valuation accounting adjustments.
“The financial-services industry faces an extremely challenging operating environment,” Pandit, 55, said last month when announcing reductions. “It’s a combination of market uncertainties, sustained economic weakness in the developed economies, and as well, the most substantial regulatory changes we’ve seen in our lifetime.”
Citigroup fell 7.2 percent to $28.54 at 2:40 p.m. in New York, the worst performance in the 24-company KBW Bank Index. The stock had climbed 17 percent this year through last week.
“We continued to experience pressure in credit and securitized products in the fourth quarter,” Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said today on a call with analysts.
Goldman, Morgan Stanley Alums
Citigroup eliminated about 95 jobs in its markets business in London last month, two people with knowledge of the plan said at the time. The cuts occurred Dec. 8 in fixed income, currencies, rates and commodities, as well as equities, the people said.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to control expenses, we are making targeted headcount reductions in certain businesses and functions across Citi,” Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for the bank, said in an e-mailed statement.
Bansal joined Citigroup in 1999, left for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2005 and returned in 2008, according to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records. Yanney joined Citigroup from Morgan Stanley in July 2010, the records show. He previously worked for Barclays Plc and Goldman Sachs.
Balkan will be succeeded as head of investment-grade bond trading by David Cohen, a Citigroup trader, the people said.
--With assistance from Shannon D. Harrington in New York. Editors: Dan Reichl, Peter Eichenbaum
To contact the reporters on this story: Donal Griffin in New York at dgriffin10@bloomberg.net; Kristen Haunss in New York at khaunss@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net; Faris Khan at fkhan33@bloomberg.net
