In the rural areas, if even the shadow of an untouchable goes on a pandit, that man can be killed".
In response to a deluge of queries about why Mr Pandit had departed, an analysts' conference call was hastily convened on October 16th with Mr Corbat and Michael O'Neill, the bank's chairman.
Even if Mr Pandit could be said to have had a very difficult job and done nothing to further undermine the bank, he could be faulted for having fundamentally misread the times.
Mr Pandit is trying various approaches to restocking its depleted capital.
Asia and Latin America are particularly profitable (see chart).Mr Pandit sees a role for Citi in "connecting east and west" but also as a beneficiary of the growth of intra-Asian commerce and the underdeveloped state of the region's financial industry.
Vikram Pandit, Citigroup's chief executive, has been conducting a painstaking review into the bank's strategy and organisation and is set to downsize it.Scale and heartyMr Pandit has affirmed his faith in the universal banking model, however, which looks stronger than ever.
On November 17th Vikram Pandit, Citi's boss, said his bank would shed a whopping 52,000 jobs in the next few months, bringing the total number of planned job cuts to 75,000, or 20% of the bank's workforce (see article).
Mr Pandit, who headed Citi's investment-banking division, promised a "front-to-back review" of all the bank's business aspects.
Vikram Pandit, Citi's boss, recently told investors that "nobody wants to talk about excess capital," but "at some point down the road we're going to have to figure out what to do with" it.The balance-sheets of emerging-market and rich-world banks are like the coasts of America and Africa: they look like a good fit.
Bangladesh boasts a solitary corporate bond.In this section Slim pickings, no appetite Banking on the banks Pandit and the playthings Gutted instinct Pretty nitty-gritty Call of the market Loose thinking Bidding farewell Reality bites Reprints Related items Eureka momentsSep 24th 2009Mr Mujeri hopes Grameenphone's IPO could make a "qualitative difference" to Bangladesh's equity culture.
Mr Pandit, true to his reputation, is not going to rush any decisions.
