Sunday, October 21, 2012

Citigroup:Too Big to Fail and Too Big To Succeed

The abrupt departure of Citigroup's CEO has led to a lot of speculation about its future.  It got in trouble being managed by a lawyer whose expertise was in structuring acquisitions.  They brought in a hedge fund manager to take his place who had no experience in banking, or in running an enormously complex conglomerate.   Gretchen Morgenson asks whether Citigroup is too big and complex for anyone to manage.  She also asks whether Citigroup can shed itself from dependence on government and the taxpayer for survival.  As long as government is providing implicit and explicit guarantees to Citigroup that lower its costs, it may not be fit for a competitive environment.  Moreover, it may be too complex to be effectively managed by an ordinary mortal.

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