Jane Fraser became CEO of Citigroup in 2021. (File Photo)
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser has sent a tough message to the company’s 240,000 employees, saying it’s time to “make the change or get off the train,” according to Financial Times (FT). This comes days after she announced the biggest restructuring in the bank’s history in fifteen years. The changes give Ms Fraser more direct control as she tries to simplify the Wall Street giant and grow its shares. She took charge of the third-largest US bank in 2021 and faces the tough task of making it less risky and more profitable.
From FTMs Fraser held a town hall meeting last week in which she told employees: “Get on board. We have incredibly high ambitions for this bank and the train, it’s going to move fast.”
“So lean in, help us win customers, help us make the changes or get off the train,” she further said, according to the newspaper, which attributed the comments to people who had heard the remarks.
Although Ms Fraser has not disclosed how many jobs management plans to cut, her restructuring plan has sent shockwaves among employees.
After the report surfaced about its overhaul plan, senior executives left the company, including as Eduardo Cruz, head of Citi’s Latin American investment banking business, said FT.
Earlier this month, she told investors in New York that management had made “tough, consistent and difficult decisions.” “They’re not going to be universally popular within our bank. It’s going to make some of our people very uncomfortable. I’m absolutely fine with that… It’s absolutely the right thing to do for our shareholders,” Reuters quoted her as saying. say at the meeting.
The major reorganization is another step in Ms Fraser’s strategy to improve profits and streamline the bank since she took over. Although Citi has sold businesses and is working to resolve regulatory issues, its stock price has lagged behind peers.
The bank is still dealing with a 2020 consent order from regulators requiring several “long-standing deficiencies” in its internal controls to be corrected.
