This just hit the wires. Apparently, Bob Rubin has tendered his resignation at Citigroup. I have no comment except to say that Rubin’s resignation will not mean anything regarding cleaning up the mess at Citi. They just wrote down $1.4 billion on LyondellBasel. DO you honestly think that is the last of it?
Here is the story from the Wall Street Journal:
Robert Rubin, the former Treasury secretary who has been sharply criticized over his role in the financial turmoil at Citigroup Inc., plans to leave the bank and has submitted a letter of resignation, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Mr. Rubin is senior counselor and a director at the New York company, which has suffered $20 billion in losses over the past year and got a government bailout of at least $45 billion. Citigroup’s troubles cast an awkward spotlight on Mr. Rubin, who received $115 million in pay since 1999, excluding stock options….
The exit of Mr. Rubin likely will do little to ease the questions swirling around Citigroup, now just the fifth-largest U.S.-based bank as measured in stock-market value. Since late 2006, Citigroup’s share price has plunged nearly 90%. On Friday, the stock was down 2.9%, or 21 cents, to $6.95 in recent New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Besides an initial $25 billion injection as part of a broad rescue of financial firms, the government agreed in November to put in $20 billion more and vowed to protect Citigroup against most losses on $306 billion of its assets.
The second infusion, which the government as the bank’s largest shareholder, with a 7.8% stake, coincided with federal regulators putting Citigroup on a tighter regulatory leash, according to people familiar with the situation said.
Source
Rubin to Leave Citigroup – WSJ