NEW YORK (AP) _ Citigroup has paid its former CEO Vikram
Pandit, who resigned abruptly last month, a bonus of $6.7 million for
work he did for the bank this year.
The bank, which disclosed the payment in a regulatory filing
Friday, also paid its former chief operating officer John Havens, who
left the bank at the same time Pandit did, $6.8 million. Citi
characterized the payments as ``incentive awards'' and said the two
executives weren't entitled to any severance payments as a result of
their departures.
The executives will get 40 percent of the money right away, and the rest will be paid in installments through 2017.
Citi said Pandit and Havens will continue to vest in deferred
stock and deferred cash incentive awards previously granted to them.
Those were worth $8.8 million for Pandit and $8.7 million for Havens.
Pandit's sudden departure from Citi on Oct. 16 shocked the
financial industry. Citi gave no explanation at the time, but it was
widely reported that Pandit had fallen out of favor with the company's
board. The bank was embarrassed by several missteps including failing a
financial checkup this spring with the Federal Reserve, which refused
Citi's request to raise its dividend.
Pandit joined Citi in 2007 and steered the bank through the
financial crisis. He accepted a token $1 in compensation in 2010 as the
bank righted itself. His pay increased to $15 million in 2011, roughly
in line with most of his counterparts. But Citi's shareholders, unhappy
with a 44 percent plunge in the bank's stock price that year, rebuked
Citi by rejecting his pay package in a non-binding vote this spring.
In the filing, Citi's chairman, Michael O'Neill, said in a
statement that Pandit and Havens made important contributions to Citi
that warranted the payments.
``Vikram steered Citi through the financial crisis, realigned its
strategy, bolstered its risk management processes and returned it to
profitability...'' O'Neill said. ``Based on the progress this year
through the date of separation, the Board determined that an incentive
award for their work in 2012 was appropriate and equitable.''
As part of the agreements Citi made with Pandit and Havens
granting the payments, the two executives agreed not to become
affiliated with another major bank or to poach Citi executives or
clients for a year.