Citigroup Inc. replaced David Bushnell as chief risk officer, two weeks after the largest U.S. bank said writedowns on mortgage-related investments may lead to its first quarterly loss since at least 1998. Jorge Bermudez, 56, whose 30-year career at Citigroup includes experience in risk management and operations, takes over for Bushnell effective immediately, the New York-based bank said today in a statement. Bushnell, 53, a 22-year veteran who also serves as chief administrative officer, will retire Dec. 31. Bushnell is at least the fifth executive to be forced out or reassigned at Citigroup as this year's credit-market turmoil in the U.S. ravaged the bank's investments in subprime mortgages and related bonds. The company's board ousted Chief Executive Officer Charles Prince on Nov. 4, three weeks after Prince himself replaced three top trading executives. ``They're addressing a situation that should have been addressed two years ago,'' said William Smith, who manages about $80 million, including 71,000 Citigroup shares as president of Smith Asset Management. ``Heads have to roll, and Bushnell's head was next to roll.'' The company's stock has tumbled 39 percent this year. Today, it fell 58 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $34. The announcement was made after regular trading ended on the New York Stock Exchange. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEL9.db.Pi_E&refer=home Finally the right guy being dismissed !
http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/09/new...ubin.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007111119 "What Citi did a couple of years ago was insert a put type of option into otherwise conventional CDOs that were backed by subprime mortgages and sold to such entities as funds set up by Wall Street firms. The put allowed any buyer of these CDOs who ran into financing problems to sell them back - at original value - to Citi. The likelihood of the put being exercised, however, was regarded as extremely remote because the CDOs were structured to be high-grade entities called "super-senior.""