Dick Parsons, former chief executive of Time Warner, was last night named to replace Sir Win Bischoff as chairman of Citigroup, after the US bank’s fortunes failed to recover despite a $300bn government bail-out in November.

The veteran British banker, who took over only last year, had been expected to step down. Some directors and investors had privately complained that Sir Win had not offered enough supervision and guidance to Vikram Pandit, chief executive.