This is a painful time for Vikram Pandit. A regulatory turf war is about to break out in Washington and the players are practising on Citigroup's unfortunate chief executiveCitigroup.

Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, wants to eject Mr Pandit and install a chief executive more versed in commercial banking. Her campaign is being resisted by the New York Federal Reserve, one of Citi's main regulators, which is inclined to give him more of a chance to revive the bank.