embattled Citigroup board thrashes out options as stock descends

Citigroup's board was due to meet yesterday to discuss the bank's options, a person familiar with the matter said, after CEO Vikram Pandit's efforts to rebuild investor confidence failed to halt the stock's descent to a 15-year low.

The board, under chairman Win Bischoff and lead independent director Richard Parsons, will meet at Citigroup's headquarters in New York, said the person, who declined to be identified because the deliberations are private.

 The board may consider selling off pieces of the bank or the entire company, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. However, The New York Times reported that bank executives were not actively considering selling or splitting the firm.

Citigroup, once the biggest US bank, with a stock-market value of US$274 billion (now Bt9.65 trillion) at the end of 2006, dropped on Thursday to about $26 billion, slipping to No 5 below Minneapolis-based US Bancorp.