The executive suite at Citigroup needs a revolving door. Three-fifths of Citi’s 43-strong senior team has now departed since their beaming faces appeared in the 2006 annual report, notes Barclays Capital. Now, Ned Kelly’s move, after less than four months as chief financial officer, ushers in the fifth finance bod in five years. As vice-chairman, Mr Kelly keeps the fun bit of the job – strategy and deal-making – while relinquishing the arduous task of making sense of Citi’s financials to John Gerspach. Currently chief accountant and a 19-year Citi veteran, Mr Gerspach has the kind of experience that Mr Kelly lacked and would have been an eminently more sensible choice back in March.

Just a week before second-quarter results are released and amid Citi’s $58bn exchange offer for preferred shares, this merry-go-round is unfortunate. The US government – soon to own more than 30 per cent of the bank – seems to have the company by the scruff of the neck. Eugene McQuade, who has a long retail banking pedigree, also joins to take charge of Citi’s US banking subsidiary. That, after other retail-focused board appointments, seriously boosts Citi’s consumer credentials – an area where regulators felt top brass were lacking – and shows the government’s apparent willingness to parachute banking bigwigs into troubled institutions where needed.