Two Traders Leave Citigroup, Analyst Questions Dividend

Citigroup confirmed late Wednesday that two senior traders have left the bank in the wake of the credit crunch that resulted in Citgroup's fixed-income operations posting $2.2B of trading losses in the third quarter. The bank would not comment, however, on the circumstances of their departures. Michael Raynes, head of structured credit, and Nestor Dominguez, co-head of collateralized debt obligations, left the bank less than three weeks after two other senior managers also departed. Following E. Stanley O'Neal's departure from Merrill Lynch this week, there are heightened calls for the removal of Citigroup CEO Charles Prince. Meanwhile, CIBC World Markets analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded the stock to "sector underperform" from "sector perform," raising doubts about the dividend, saying the bank may have to cut the payout or sell assets to save off what she said was a $30B capital shortfall. She believes the stock could face serious pressure and drop to the low $30s, some 28% below its current $41.90 price.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times
Commentary: Citigroup Earnings Drop 57%, Beats Estimates • Citigroup's CEO Chuck Prince Is Safe • Shakeup at Citigroup
Stocks to watch: C. Competitors: MER, BAC, JPM, MS. ETFs: PJB, KBE
Earnings call transcript: Citigroup Q3 2007

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