Citigroup has struggled to adequately train employees in risk, compliance and data roles, according to the bank’s own assessment, shedding light on why it is taking it years to fix regulatory issues even as billions are spent on an overhaul.
Citi’s analysis, a portion of which was seen by Reuters and has not been previously reported, shows the bank has been grappling with a shortage of skilled personnel, finding at times that it did not have the right training and assessment tools to fix its regulatory challenges. The bank, which has for the past four years been operating under two regulatory reprimands, called consent orders, must resolve these problems for the decrees to be lifted.
In one place, for example, the analysis cites “insufficient compliance risk management skills” among staff directly dealing with such issues. The sections of the analysis seen by Reuters did not address why Citi had not been able to fix these issues. They were laid out in a December 2023 spreadsheet tracking Citi’s progress on various aspects of the consent orders.
Separately, four sources familiar with the matter said the situation was further complicated when CEO Jane Fraser launched a massive exercise in September 2023 to simplify the bank, firing thousands of people and reducing the number of management layers there.
In the process, some staff involved in issues related to the consent orders were also let go, according to the sources.
Reuters could not independently determine whether the layoffs set back the bank’s overall efforts to resolve the consent orders. Without providing specifics, Citi denied this, saying that “cherry picking numbers will paint a misleading picture.”
“We continue to invest heavily in talent and training to ensure we have the right people and expertise in critical areas such as data, risk, controls and compliance,” the bank said in a statement. It added that it proactively assesses “the evolving skills needed so that we can hire” and enhance skills accordingly.
