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At least so says a new report from Crédit Agricole Securities financial analyst Mike Mayo, a vocal critic of Citigroup who met with company execs on Friday (after having “lobbied for nearly two years for an audience with” Citi chief exec Vikram Pandit) in preparation for the release of his long-term outlook on the company.
we are not convinced that there has been enough improvement in risk management, a huge consideration for this reason: for each $3 that Citi made last decade, it gave back $1 due to poor risk management. Citi still seems to have aggressiveness with financial targets (well above historical), accounting (tax credits), and corporate governance. Also, the strategy does not always seem in sync with execution and/or financial reporting.
A history of mishaps and poor judgment
Citi mentioned that it has a new team. Yet, we’ve heard this before. Since 1998, Citi has had 30 major reorganizations or senior management changes, a disruptive lack of continuity that increases the chance for mishaps. Not surprisingly, over this same time Citi has had about 20 significant events that reflect breakdowns in risk management, ranging from fines and settlements for dealings with Enron and WorldCom to exceptional reserve builds and writedowns. All told, these events have added to over $100bn in pretax losses. Thus, the issue for Citi is less about squeezing out extra growth versus not messing up.
Ouch.
That last sentence doesn’t sound good at all.
UPDATE: Fox Business reporter Charlie Gasparino gives a thorough breakdown of Mayo’s report in this video.
Risk Management Magazine and Risk Management Monitor. Copyright 2012 Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. All rights reserved.
