COMMENT Citigroup made an astonishing announcement this month: it wanted to hire directors who actually knew something about banking. “Citi seeks finance-savvy directors,” ran the headline in one business newspaper. It went on to detail how the institution, having written down more than $20bn (£10bn) since last summer, was after board members with “a particular emphasis on expertise in finance and investments”.
So it took the departure of its chief executive, a historic crisis and massive losses to impress upon the world’s biggest bank that its board could do with a touch more financial knowhow. It would certainly make a change: Citi’s top crust is more likely to come from industry than from Wall Street and only two of the outside directors have any background in financial services.
