How Citi is changing.

Vikram Pandit & Citi,

Great job on the turnaround. Citi will be a strong brand again. It is time to start thinking about the shareholders. We shareholders have suffered through great value destruction. Several shareholders have posted questions above with no answers. You certainly have the power to start restoring the value of the shares through various options posted above. We will be eagerly waiting news on improved earnings and possible share buybacks etc. The turnaround to this point has been wonderful and we appreciate your efforts.

Regards,
Mike

I am a Citi credit card customer. I have been having pleasant experience with CITI. They are truely forward looking, global, modern financial institution. I find some of the other banks very conservative. Citi will come back and rise again.

Well, this column has really got people talking, which is great. I hope Citi management listens up. I am presently dealing with a European bank which reports that it is the only bank in the world that is Triple A rated. It seems to be low-key and not an "in your face bank" like BofA, which I quit using years ago due to unbelievable errors on their part. Any bank, it seems to me, should be of service to their customers first, their stockholders and employees second, and their CEO's last - it is unbelievable how much these guys make! How many millions does it take to even buy a Lambourghini?? My concern is that they are putting this money into Swiss banks or some other place offshore and removing the cash from the American economic system - I never seem to find any financial reports on this matter. I also wonder whatever happened to those 33 Wall Street guys who ripped off the system in the late 90's??
I have investments with Citi and hope they continue to pay off. Thank you.

You have a nice swing...keep tio going!

And remember, the name of the game is EFFECTIVE SUPERVISION!!!

Obviously I'm unhappy with issuing such an exorbitant amount of stock to the government, but, if it's absolutely neccessary to do a reverse stock split, I desparately hope that it won't be worse than 2 for 1. We absolutely must have a greater upside potential to recover our stock losses. A stockholder.

As a shareholder and a private business owner I would like to offer the following observations.
Many publicly owned companies operate in a manner completely antithetical to the relationship of compensation of the owners of the business and the managers of the business, Citi is one of them.
When it comes to this issue lessons can be learned from the preeminent investor of our times Warren Buffet.
Citi can go further by allowing a direct shareholder vote on compensation of the top management, including all directors. The fortune of top management must be directly related to the compensation of the owners of Citi.
The rush to repay TARP at an extremely low price was another slap in the face of Citi owners by their own employees, concerned about their own compensation only.
Sooner or latter investors will start hiring employees who work for them and this may come by legislation or a revolt by the shareholders.

my only concern is that with Citi being one of the largest global banks that management will take it upon themselves to police what they do and not leave investors hanging in hopes of future bailouts by America!

I was curious if you actually accept real comments or is everything on this blog fake?

A traditional stock buy back program may not be the right short term move for the company to implement to increase shareholder value. A strong cash position may better for shareholder value in the short term. the company establish a fund ( sinking bond fund may be and restricted) for the repurchase of common shares once it achieves certain milestones. This may offset some of the negative perception associated with the increase in outstanding shares and the compensation program (grants of more shares).

It may be more important here to change the image of Citiholdings. The company has expressed this entity as a function without reasonable limits which is hampering its turnaround. The asset pool in this unit does not have to go to "0" for the maximization of the whole system. And the problem really should be worked from both directions to find the maximum for Citicorp as a function of the system. It may only need to be reduced to $400 billion not $0 for the maximum outcome.

When are you going to update the comments section of this site? The most recent comment I see above is 3/08/10.

The company should do away with the transitional name CitiHoldings. The company should go with one name or two solid separate names, such as, Citibanking and Citibrokerage Services to simplify its organizational structure and centralize its marketing strategy around one or two positive names. Management could also establish strong internal policies to separate the banking and brokerage elements of the company with two equally weighted CEOS for each business element. This may help the company resolve some regulatory issues later, help centralize its marketing strategy to position itself under one or two strong names and allow it to have two CEOs that specialize in their respective areas of expertise.

The company has too many names associated with it.

This is a great restart mr Vikram. All the best

What I understood from the message is Citi accepts responsibility for what they also did to the economy and Citi is standing back again to serve clients better and do all the good work. But before we make the last statement, can I ask something?
1. In past how two years, there had been several reorganizations within Citi. Do you think we can now stop them and have a dedicated focus towards solving the problem? How do change in overall management structure really helping you? Business owners for specify legal vehicles within Citi Holdings remain the same. Its just that they have a new boss. Aren't they still running it in the same way
2. Are we in a situation that we have completely understood the problem? Have we brainstormed on the strategies to solve the problem? Do we have action plan to implement those strategies? If your message says YES, can Citi disclose their mileposts for this plan. If American public has to be with you, then they should be able to evaluate your performance

As a customer, I think its time to wrap up and move to BofA. Spinning off Smith Barney was a bad move.

Similarly exiting many markets will siphon off many of your Gold customers away - They wont leave you in one market but all over the globe. One may have a leaner account with you in one market and/or country but a fat one in another.

We are long, long overdue for a major correction in the financial industries. That may be the only thing that finally restores value the U.S. economy.

Otoh, if the status quo remains, I have little hope.

I want to request Citi management to concentrate on the liqidity issues before they even think about buying back shares.It is importent to reestablish sharesholders value but not at the cost of bank's health.Down the road when Citi is making enough profits to buy back shares,management can go for it.Long term investors like me won't be bothered by the price per share as it will come back if the company is on a solid recovery path.Good luck to every body.

One word: Plutonomy.

This is what you've created. Hopefully the voters will figure it out and you will lose.

Too big to fail = too big to exist.

I moved my entire savings out of a big bank and put it into a small, local community bank and have encouraged all of my friends and family to do the same.

This is not something that you can "make up" to the consumers. You are a symptom of something that is very wrong at the heart of America. Rampant corporate greed is a serious, serious problem - and we citizens have the power to make you TRULY learn a lesson - - by taking our money away from you.

I'm afraid your attempts to sweet talk Americans are going to fail. We are fed up at your lack of self-control, and your lack of civic responsibility. We are done with you.

Nice try guys. How are you anything CLOSE to 'community' or 'local'? It's far from the worst offense, but you actually billed the taxpayer so that we could pay to advertise to OURSELVES at that ugly mess you call a ballpark in New York.

What a joke!!! I recently closed 5 accounts from a big bank just like Citi and moved my money to the local credit union. I suggest you do the same. Go to http://www.newrules.org/banking

What day in March 2010 will the US government start selling its stake in Citi.
Thank you!

Why isn't Citi pushing hard for an Independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency that ensures no predatory or abusive practices? If you really care about your consumer business and have nothing to hide, you should be working hard to make sure this Agency happens, that is a stand alone Agency, fully funded, and champions the Consumer. If you stand against this, then that says your a predatory company because you have something to hide or profits to defend. Remember there is no inalienable right to profits. You have a right to make money based on ethical parameters that are win-win for Citi and the US.

Respected Mr. Vikram Pandit,

I am an investor as wells as a customer, kindly accept my feedback from both perspectives.

First of all accept my sincere kudos to you for taking the Financial Institution in the verge of collapse and and your team for giving thier best shot to stabilize it. It needs guts to even think about trying this task. It is easy to criticize and find fault with any effort because criticizing doesn't need envisioning, planning, strategizing, implementing, obtaining feedback and fine tuning the efforts.

In the same token as a customer, I don't see a synergy in all the departments to offer their best when lending their Services. I will relate this to my case, I have applied for Home Owner assistance program last March/April. Every month when I make calls they promise me it would be taken care that month and that month has never materialized thus far.

As an Investor, I have no doubt Citi will stabilize and flourish under your leadership. In the same token the

Other people have raised this point, but it has not been addressed yet. I am also worried about the commitment to shareholders, specifically with relation to a reverse split. This will destroy shareholder confidence - and likely shareholder value as well. I would like to know what Citi's position is currently with share prices still under 4$.

Like a poster stated above: "Citi should undertake a buyback of shares--the only way to restore value"

I do wish to thank Citi for starting this blog and for listening to our concerns.

Communicating with Citi has become a nightmare. Having had a wrong online transaction in Nov 2009, it has been 4-5 months that I am running around for that, and neither Citi has a precise answer to it, nor the merchant is cooperating well.

Having this blog site will have 1000's of entries, but the need of the hour is to standardize transaction processes and publish a "Cyber Law" policy on your website. I have been a customer of Citibank since 2003, and would not be any longer.

The company should also develop financial products that are less complex to bring these assets in the reach of small investors. For example, exchange traded funds (ETF) can be developed to purchase mortgage backed securities derived from loans in Citigroup Holdings to make them easier for salespeople to explain and market to small investors. The ETF fund risk can also be averaged out by using a percentage of cash flow from loans to reinvest government securities or risk free financial securities, low beta stocks and small hedge positions (options and shorted shares). This also would allow the company to maintain some form of government guarantees with treasury bonds as a part of the product mix. It could provide the company with some synergy to allow people to understand that while divesting these units the proceeds are still being properly integrated into its overall strategy and growth.

The government shares also should not be discussed here to avoid front-running.

Every time I call CitiBank (or whatever the particular relevant division may be that day), I speak with someone in India. The U.S. taxpayer was forced to bail you out after you helped to bring the United States to its knees. We have five applicants for every job and an effective unemployment rate of 17 percent. Bring the jobs home! CitiBank is clearly a multi-national with multi-national loyalites, but it is the U.S. tax payer who is saving you, by Mr. Pandit's own account. Give preference to U.S. citizens in your hiring and to bring ALL customer service jobs and many others to the 50 states. If you can't find qualified Americans to hire, believe me I can help you. I know plenty who are suffering. Ironically, Indian bankers knew better that to engage in the risky practices Citibank did, so India and its people are doubly blessed. Good luck to that nation, it is clearly on the rise. Thanks to Citibank, the future of the U.S. is not so clear.

It’s a privilege to get an opportunity to share opinion. Appreciate this Initiative.

My relationship with Citi has been that of an outsider hence, I can understand if this Blog is not Published. The interactions that I have had with Citi are work related - Bangalore,Sales, NewYork ,IB,Valuation & Gurgaon,HR.
In all the 3 interaction, I can clearly make out that Citi definitely has a Culture of its own. I clearly see that People I interact with have good, if not great, understanding of what they are doing.

However, there is common questionable attitude that I came across. None in Citi believed in a win-win philosophy.
All I am concerned is that Citi, realizes that, “I win all attitude” may give it great profits in short time but will go against it in long run.

Citi Never Sleeps, but it’s being Internally blind and focussing on external factors, and not believing that It can Leverage its 200 yrs of existence to create several Win–Win situation.

Introspection is all I am requesting.

The focus of Citi around clients and shedding non-core assets is key. Clearly, an emerging markets focus and Citi's presence around the globe is a unique competitive advantage. With that said, Citi should not surrender the US market to its larger US-based peers. While Citi has a much smaller branch footprint in the US, this could be used as a strength. Citi needs to build, either organically or through acquisitions, a truely online banking and brokerage offering... mirroring that of a Charles Schwab. Citi can grow its deposit base and lower its cost of funds without branch overhead. As a potential customer in the Southern US, I would be very attracted to such an offering. Citi should bring back a CitiTrade-like service or acquire a cheap online brokerage like E-Trade.

Further, I have seen several analyst reports that show Citi to be over-capitalized by some $50 billion. Too much liquidity is not in the shareholders best interest. A share buy back is needed, which would be accretive.

Also, the company should change the way they report its turn around. It should work to shed the bad bank image of Citigroup Holdings, these assets should be considered good assets for turnaround before their final sale. The way the authorized shares and reverse split is reported should change too. His is really about a psychology of numbers and the higher the numbers in these area correlate a negative perception of the company’s stock. Finally, management should utilize a system’s concept where all employees are considered sale persons ( this include the board members and executive team. This is a marketing process and everyone should be aware of how it works.

PS: Traders do not normally discuss trading techniques with the public because they know that other will make moves ahead of them to push price up or down. Citigroup executives should be discussing the disposition of government shares for this very reason. A profession bookrunning should privately do it.

Also, Reuters reported as far back as March 2009 that some investors planned to buy preferred shares and short the common shares later in the conversion price cycle to profit in both directions. This was labeled an arbitrage play where these investors expected downward pressure on stock price due to preferred shareholders taking profits at the end of the conversion cycle ( as a result of the spread between conversion price of the preferred and market price of the common) . On about August 30, 2009, Barron’s printed an article telling investors to sell Citigroup stock if they bought it under $5. This was the beginning of a series of negative articles, message board posts and leaks from the company about the proposed disposition of the government shares which helped decrease shareholder value. And the company’s response to all of this was to add more on until the stock price and investor’s confidence were almost destroyed.

It is nice to know that management is improving on its communication with the public, clients and investors. The way management handles their responses to negative feedback from market participants will be very important for the company moving forward. In recent months there has been a few negative reports about the company and the failure of management to properly assess and respond to these reports may contributive to shareholder price destruction. Management should also be aware that proper communication to the markets is important because some investors are using negative reporting to destroy buyers momentum and investor’s confidence to gain from shorted shares, put options and written call options of the company’s underlying shares.

Today I got a statement in the mail saying I had been charged for my business bank account. This is really interesting as these were maintenance fees for an account which had been closed (for months)- SO- I asked the customer service rep- how it was possible that I am allowed to pay for the account just not allowed to deposit CHECKS into the account. She told me I needed to go to my branch and straighten it out.

At the end of the day- You can't even handle basic sole proprietor business accounts- why don't you fix your basics and then ask us what we think of your new policies. When I opened my account as a sole proprietor my bank rep was completely flustered and seemed to have very little idea of what the heck he was doing!!! He has been with the bank for TWELVE years- just indicating further that you are only interested in big money and making as much of it as possible.
I couldn't be more unhappy and I will use every social media forum to express my disgust.

Folks - if Citi knew what the stock price was going to be at the end of 2010, they'd be shouting it from the rooftops. Especially if it will hit double digits. Could it hit double digits? Sure! Will it? I don't know, I've lost my crystal ball.

All they can do is tell us the plan. Is it a good plan? Yep. Will it drive up the stock price...sure. How fast will it go up? Hang out and see.

What is Citi's exposure to Dubai and other Middle Eastern Sovereign debt??? I am very concerned about this..

I really liked the direct answers given today. You don't see that often. It seems from an outsider that the ship is almost floating again on its own. My only hope now is that the ship sails.

regarding any efforts to restore shareholder value after destruction and dilution. I t is my hope that the company will buy back govt shares. Even if this is accomplished will it be enough? Is that why an extension of reverse split will be voted on in April?. I would also hope that you have been discreetly buying back from market at these prices. Seems a combination of all three will be necessary...I guess you will not be able to comment ...could you comment on where establishing shareholder value is on your list of priorities

Whats your outlook on Citifinancial India? Being a part of Citi Holdings are you guys divesting it in near term?

Hi,

You have set a very good example on incentives hope others also follow and ensure recovery of US banks from the brink. Good to see banks grappling with the turmoil and trying to come out.

My question is if Government bail out is not there what happens? When government is funding your business and with near zero cost of funds, every bank is sure to make profits, now who is the owner of these profits obviously the government, so why not pay back the lender of these funds first and then decide on incentives later.

Come to think of it what is the punishment given to banks/employees which were irresponsible in their behaviour.

Isn't this problem created by Banks in the first place, too big to fail should not be there, they should fail so that risk taking appetite will subside. Hope better sense prevails and we will see responsible banking again.

All the best and hope citi regains the past glory....

What Cit has done to "help" me in the last year:

Interest rate increase to 29%! On not one, but two credit cards. I have never been late with a payment.

Completely closed your citiflex credit line with no warning. I run a small biz, so this was a real problem.

A total lack of caring toward your customer base. Even though it is tax payer that allowed your exes to reap ill gotten rewards.

So please cut the PR bs. If you REALLY want to help your customers, reduce CC interest rates and start leading again!

P

As far as service is concerned, if you give flexibility to the customer so that he can look into his spending trends, probably that's the best piece. For example, if I am credit card user, I want to see in which category I am spending more so that I can make a decision on where I can spend less. Providing the flexibility to run different kinds of reports give more power to the customer. This kind of reports retain your customer base and you can get new customers.

At the same time, If you can build intelligent systems, you can analyse the spending trends of your customers and you can promote good products to the customers. That way you can retain the customers and increase the business with your existing customers.

Based on the service you are providing to the existing customers, you can get more customers by promoting the new features.

You can provide this kind of service to all the sectors. This should drive Citi with Customer Satisfaction.....

All the best....

Helllo Mr. Pandit,

If Citi were to buy all 7.7 billion shares from govt, it would cost only $25 billion which Citi defintely has. Citi underwrote 3.2 billion shares in the secondary offering. Did Citi still hold on to them, or did it already sell to investors? If Citi still has those 3.2 billion shares, it could sell at $15 a share or so after it retires about 20 billion shares from future buybacks. The profit from the sell will be taxed free which Citi could put back to its cash reserve. What do you think? A brilliant idea? This is what we've been discussing in the Yahoo Fiinance Board.

Regards,

Kly

You all are doing a great job...Keep up the wonderful efforts! my best wishes and prayers are with citi always.

I worked at Citi before and I'd like to point out what a great job the leadership team is doing (esp. Mr. Vikram Pandit and Mr. John Havens) It's hard to imagine the magnitude of the challenge in turning around the balance sheet in face of new economic and market conditions. So far, they've been making a lot of progress in getting rid of non-core assets and making the organization more efficient. I know for shareholders it sucks to watch the stock drop, but all the hedge fund legends like George Soros and John Paulson are buying up Citi stock now, so there'll be a good amount of potential going forward.

As a Citi Customer, I understand that the economics of the consumer banking/credit side are becoming more challenging, on one hand we cannot expect the same terms as before the recession. On the other hand Citi will have to make sacrifices to keep customers, even if the economics don't work out in the short-term. It's also cool that Citi is communicating directly through blog/twitter.

1. while Citi is divesting from some of its earlier investments, it should use some portion of that money to add its stake in companies with good potential. There may be lot of investments made by citi where it has opportunity to get additional stake at fractional value. Suppose , Particularly in emerging countries like india, if citi adds 10% of its stake , where it has already invested , the result in market cap will be multiple and at the end of the day Citi will gain a lot. 2.For mortgate market, I would like to suggest that in stead of writing off huge losses and concessions, companies like Citi and Government of U.S.A. should directly enter the property market as buyer to stabilize the home prices.
3. If laws of U.S.A. permits, Citi may start a global real estate mutual fund where any one from the world can invest in small units and the money will be invested in US homes and other commercial assets. It will definitely help not only boosting but also stebilising home prices.

Selling Diner's Club to Bank of Montreal will turn out to be a big mistake. The amount of clients reads like a Who's Who list of top companies. We are losing a major brand here. The first credit card ever was a Diner's Club card. It is akin to a crown jewel which was given away for peanuts.

I do believe however, that Mr. Pandit is doing a great job given his circumstances. I love our global footprint.

I believe that CITI can come out of the situation it is now in. I think that CITI should concentrate more on emerging economies. Personally I understand the Indian economy. I would like to suggest somethings if CITI plans to concentrate on India as a prospective market.
In India the retail banking Industry is mainly captured by State Bank of India. SBI gives security to the consumers, as it is a state-owned bank. SBI provides better facilities at less cost. It has a wide network of ATMs and provides easy internet banking. Through SBI internet banking you can get many services like booking rail tickets, online shopping, etc. There are private banks also but the charges are high. So if CITI plans to invest in India it must provide banking services at cheaper price and higher quality. Infact I would like to say that " a successful business is one that provides products, whose price is cheaper than the competition and whose quality is better than the competition."

I worked at Citi before and I'd like to point out what a great job the leadership team is doing (esp. Mr. Vikram Pandit and Mr. John Havens) It's hard to imagine the magnitude of the challenge in turning around the balance sheet in face of new economic and market conditions. So far, they've been making a lot of progress in getting rid of non-core assets and making the organization more efficient. I know for shareholders it sucks to watch the stock drop, but all the hedge fund legends like George Soros and John Paulson are buying up Citi stock now, so there'll be a good amount of potential going forward.

As a Citi Customer, I understand that the economics of the consumer banking/credit side are becoming more challenging, on one hand we cannot expect the same terms as before the recession. On the other hand Citi will have to make sacrifices to keep customers, even if the economics don't work out in the short-term. It's also cool that Citi is communicating directly through blog/twitter.

Please stop trying to fool the Customers more as you guys have been doing all along. Its a pain to even talk to someone at Citi about the problems faced by me as I always get a feeling that nobody cares So i am not even listing the innumerable problems that I have faced with Citi. Citibank is a joke and a trap.
All I can agree with is that your image has taken a beating, however no amount of empty words can help you guys. Anyways goodluck with your plans for the future.

Samuel

I like Citi's vision to return to global universal banking model (like Citibank prior to its merger in 1998) with an objective to serve governments, large multinationals/emerging national companies and rich individuals. However, there are two problems (1) exiting businesses with lower margin and higher risk will take several years (2) stronger banks emerging from 2007-09 crisis are taking market share from Citi in 100 countries where Citi competes in the businesses which Citi considers Core. My analysis of stock performance of various global banks (over 30yrs of data) suggests that focused banks (focused by geography or segments) produce better performance over time as compared to global universal banks. Compare performance of GS,AXP, BONY, StanChart, Santander, Deutsche Bank versus Citi, HSBC, ABN and RBS. While Citi is reducing its scope in developed markets (ex, US) and increasing it in emerging markets, I think it should also exit higher risk and sub-scale growth countries.

l am an Ex citi group employee( India) & had left for my further studies. This is the organisation who not only thnk about their stakeholders but also about employees who leave their org. Must say that Citi has always been a family & work culture here is commendable. Ups & down are part & parcel for any company, but it your work culture, your ethics, your practices & your wish to improve your self constantly that will make you better than before. You have mastered in these qualities.

All the best.....if given a chance would want to get bac to my citi family

Citi has been providing me with excellent service for many long years and I have no complaints. Phone service is very good, online banking has been a pleasure in general and branches provide prompt service. However, as an investor in the bank and as an equity holder, I am waiting to see what the management team can do to increase value. One of the things that I could not understand was the decision to sell of retail banking businesses in Europe. If retail banking is one of the fundamentals of Citicorp, and it was profitable, especially in Germany - why was this business sold?

I also use the online Global Transfer Services provided by Citibank to do a lot of transfers between different countries. Granted that this service is convenient and transfers happen immediately, I am however, very concerned about the rates Citibank provides. The rates are not competitive and surely Citibank can be more fair and provide better rates between US and Asia.

Please fix the citi business portal. Besides being really boring and unattractive, navigation is awkward and functions like viewing your account through an iphone app or changing your PIN are not available. The personal citi portal is much nicer... business clients should get an equal or better experience with their portal.

Let's see if Citi really is "Building a customer focused Citi" by how they respond to my post...

Try using social media to see what other people's opinions are about this and other issues with the citi business online portal.

Citi;

I would like to express my gratitude to the new management team at Citi;especially Mr. Vikram Pandit.
Great job done in regards to the Co. restructuring efforts.
We will shine again and as a long term shareholder I hope to start collecting some well deserved divident. Soon!

Regards;
John Smith
Honolulu, HI

Empty Rhetoric on Citi. Have been a stockholder and am losing my shirt.

I have seen a lot of comments from Share holders, about taking a hair cut on their stock price. You have not responded to their concerns. I believe you need to respond.
Thanks
Jacob

Gee... I submitted a comment yesterday, and it wasn't 'positive' like most of what your company "likes" to show posted.

What kind of a blog is that when you don't like hearing the negatives, and censor posts? Are you afraid to share what people see is wrong with your organization? Instead you just post the postive spin properganda that suits you!

Citibank does a really good job and censoring public opinion!

I concure with Michael - Citigroup is a joke!

Maybe it wouldn't be so expensive to do business if your executives and white collar workers weren't getting richer and richer while the rest of us are left to rot!

I wonder if the people above are employees getting paid to put up positive comments. Citigroup is a joke. I would rather see it go down than getting "better"

Citi recently changed for me.

After being a being a dividends card customer for eight years who always paid on time, I was offered a fee of $60 or a choice of spending at least $2400 a year with the card.

Card cancelled. Too many free options out there, without extortion clauses.

I understand the desire to look for new revenue streams, but this is the thinking that caused you to fail and for me (the taxpayer) having to bail you out in the first place.

Next time around I won't be a customer and I won't have any sympathy.

That is the free market at work.

Ken -and Citi --the question should not be "boost" the stock price to double digits ---rather "restore" the stock price to the benefit of original investors. Cit may simply do a reverse split -which would boost the stock price -but not "restore" any value to your original 401K holdings. Cit should undertake a buyback of shares--the only way to restore value. They never should have converted preffered shares into common -it was only done to satisfy short term political noise on TCE -that no other meaningful FI did.

Dear Mr. Pandit:

I am a former employee who had invested in the company's 401 K plan for several years at a time when the matching funds made by the company in the form of Citigroup stock at a time when the stock price was over $40 a share. Needless to say, the 401 K plan suffered greatly when the stock price went down to $3 a share and it has been at this mark for over a year now. What steps is the company taking to boost the stock price up to double-digit and will this happen by the end of 2010? Thank you.

It will be interesting to see if Citi can become truly customer-centric - this kind of initiative requires a great deal of effort to execute and sustain - but, more importantly, it takes a true shift in the way business is conducted. I've been at large companies that have tried this - some have succeeded, others haven't.

Let's hope Citi can rise to the challenge!

Three stakeholders should be Citi's focus --Customers, Employees and Shareholders.Citi strives to serve customers -keep that up. Citi is right sizing the Corp for focus and it appears to be in a dignified way for emplyees,although morale is probably a challenge. With respect to Shareholders --Citi has done an absolutely terrible job -and your team has made it worse. One year ago, politicians were touting TCE --although all regulations highlight the need for Tier 1 Capital --Citi kowtowed to the political noise and converted Preferred into Common, dilluting and destroying the long term shareholders value. Interesting that no political or media hype on TCE in 2010 for FI's. Citi is sitting on billions of cash,has Tier 1 capital well above ratio needed to be considered well capitalized,yet has not taken any steps to restore any resemblence of longterm shareholder value. While under TARP -Citi could not do a buyback or increase dividend -that restriction is over. What will you do?

This is actually a very good and intelligent move for CITI. This will provide CITI the full grasp of whats happening world wide. Thank you for this initiative Mr Vicram.

Keep up the hard work Vikram!

Citi,

Thank you for taking the time to compose a response. It is refreshing to know that my concerns, along with thousands of others of concerns, are important.

I also appreciate the fact that there are some things regarding profit and loss statements that can't be made without regulatory considerations.

I have one more question.

In March 2009, Mr. Pandit proclaimed that Citigroup had the best quarter in a long time in Q1 2009. That was backed up by showing a quarterly profit, although it was because of 1 time items.

Will Mr. Pandit be willing to state again, near the end of Q1 this year, Citigroup's guidance for the quarter, like he did in 2009?

Thank you.

Mr. Pandit,

As a customer, I'm pretty happy with the level of service that I receive, and have always been happy. All the people I've dealt with have been knowledgeable and friendly.

As an investor, though, I have a significant amount of unrealized losses on my shares of C, and most of that has to do with the uncertainty of the earnings power of some of the assets Citi Holdings has. This has a lot of people concerned.

My questions are:

1) What time frame do you think is appropriate for the US Treasury to divest it's stake in Citigroup, after the lockup period is over?

2) When will assets in Citi Holdings stop generating losses that overtake Citi Corp's profits? When will Citigroup start generating a profit?

3) When will you know when it's time to shut down Citi Holdings? Do you plan on selling everything in this segment?

4) Do you think a reverse split is necessary?

Thank you.

It's very rare to see this sort of dedication to a new strategy. Keep up the good work!