No Bonus For Top Boss - But He Still Bags $216m!

Before you shed a tear for Citi CEO Vikram Pandit on the news that he didn't receive a bonus for his efforts at the company last year, fear not - he still walked off with a salary, sign-on and performance-related stock, options and buy-out compensation worth a staggering $216m!

The bulk of this money, of course, came from the sale of Old Lane Partners, the hedge fund Pandit started which Citi acquired last year. Citi's new CEO is said to have bagged $162.5m of the $800m purchase price. He is also said to have received some $48m in stock and performance-related options and  $2.7m in compensation for the 6 months he headed up Citi's investment banking and alternative investments units.

In the meantime, Citi insiders have denied reports that Pandit has been seeking the views of former Citibank boss John Reed about the future of the company's retail banking unit.

The Wall Street Journal reports that French police have now released without charge the third SocGen employee detained in connection with that $7.1bn rogue trading affair.

And finally, Barclays boss Bob Diamond is said to be going to base himself jointly out of New York and London in future. This is said to reflect the fact that the bank, and more particularly Barclays Capital, is ready of an assault on the US market in the coming months.