The New York Times reports that Citi chief financial officer Gary Crittenden has apparently admitted that the race to turn his company around is likely to be a long one.

The newspaper quotes Crittenden saying that 'this isn't like a sprint. This really is a marathon', and predicting that it will be at least 2 or 3 years before returns significantly improve. There's also said to be some frustration in the executive ranks at the slow pace of change being implemented by Vikram Pandit. Some executives are thought be be concerned that Pandit is focusing more on culture and sending out silly memos than actually doing something that will meaningfully improve the performance / value of the firm. Others are yet to be won over by Pandit's style, and still doubt if he's really up to the job. A common moan is that the CEO spends too much time thinking, planning and consulting, and not enough taking decisive action.

Financial News reports that shares in Deutsche Bank hit a 5-year low Tuesday, after Morgan Stanley downgraded the German firm to 'underweight' earlier in the week. Deutsche's investment banking operations have been the fuel in the bank's engine in the last few years, and many now think the reliance on its wholesale banking operations makes the firm vulnerable in the new economic, credit and risk environment. Morgan Stanley described Deutsche as 'one of our least preferred wholesale banks in Europe'.

The Financial Times reports that shares in Royal Bank of Scotland fell another 7.1% Tuesday, on fears over the impact of the bank's US operations (mainly Citizens and Greenwich NatWest) may have on its capital and earnings positions. The US units have traditionally accounted for around 15% of RBS's annual pre-tax profit.

Finally, Bloomberg reports that UBS is planning to buy back some $3.5bn of auction-rate securities from certain clients in a bid to put to bed legal claims that the Swiss bank originally fraudulently sold the products, passing them off as low-risk investments. The buy-back will be financed via the reissuance of preference shares in a private placement. The bank remains adamant, however, that there was no wrongdoing on its part.

READER COMMENTS:

1. 'There does need to be a long serious think about Citi's business. People jumping up and down and wanting action now resulted in the mad dash for revenues which led to the subprime debacle. Pandit is by nature a thoughtful man, and Citi needs a thinker at the helm right now. Thinking things through carefully and culturally is the only sensible option which will lead to a proper fix for this financial bemouth'.

2. 'I think that if more CEOs had focused on the culture and long tem stability of their organisations, we wouldn't be in the right old mess we're in'.

3. 'You don't need a rodeo cowboy to ride an elephant!'.

4. 'Decisive action (with no thought) won't save Citi - it's the internal structure and culture that's such a mess, and Pandit is right to look at that ahead of a mad dash for revenues. Weill gets a lot of credit for turning Citi into the biggest financial institution in the world, but in reality all he did was force several different companies with different cultures together to increase the bottom line, and then retired. None of the systems or processes were ever merged, and Citi remains a frustrating place to get even simple things done, as people just aren't responsive and the infrastructure is second (or third) rate. Pandit has a huge task ahead of him, and it may be beyond even his undoubted talents. In the end, splitting up the empire might be the only solution'.

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