NEW YORK (AFP) — Citigroup Chief Executive Charles Prince is planning to resign at a board meeting Sunday, amid growing turmoil surrounding the US banking giant.
A report in the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said Prince, 57, after four troubled years of tenure had decided to resign before the board considered his fate.
They said Prince, 57, faced increasing pressure to get revenue up, cut costs and demonstrate that Citigroup's financial supermarket model works.
"Chuck took a very unusual move and is resigning," said one person familiar with the situation, quoted in the newspaper. "He's stepped up and done the right thing without forcing the board to act."
An earlier report by the economic daily said Citigroup was planning an emergency meeting over the weekend for undetermined reasons.
Some Wall Street investors had been calling for Prince's departure following the bank's subpar financial performance.
Like some of its rivals, Citigroup's balance sheet has been hit by losses from its exposure to mortgage-backed securities, which have been ravaged by the housing downturn.
Citigroup revealed losses of 1.56 billion dollars from bets it made on mortgage-backed securities and other loan instruments on October 15, as well as disclosing pre-tax writedowns of 1.35 billion dollars related to mergers and acquisitions lending agreements.
The write-downs took a heavy toll on the bank's earnings, which slowed to a net profit of 2.4 billion dollars.
Citigroup's financial woes, exacerbated by an industry-wide credit crunch, have severely damaged its share price.
The banking giant's stock closed down 2.0 percent at 37.73 dollars Friday. Its shares have slumped a hefty 21 percent from 47.72 dollars on October 1 prior to the release of its latest earnings.
Citigroup is the second biggest US financial firm by market worth behind Bank of America.
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