Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Citigroup Was One Big Mistake | If you're a Citigroup shareholder and you've watched your investment in the bank tumble into the abyss over the past year, take heart. John Reed, the man partly responsible for creating the dysfunctional financial supermarket that Citigroup turned into by merging Citicorp with Sandy Weill's Travelers Group in 1998, is really, really sorry. "We learn from our mistakes," says Reed. Feel better now? [Bloomberg]

Citi's Latest Grab-and-Run | We can appreciate things are tough over at Citigroup right now what with the bank's stock price at its lowest point since August. And, sure, Citi is looking to hoard as much money as possible in the event another crisis comes along. But this effort by bank employees to create their own personal stockpiles of cash? Now they're beginning to push it! [NYP]

Good news for senior execs at bailed-out banks and auto companies. While Treasury Department "pay czar" Ken Feinberg announced last week that he was slashing overall compensation at the companies under his control, he's since decided to raise base salaries. Why? Because the banks complained, of course, which prompted Feinberg to re-review the matter. More

Wall Street CEOs make a fortune, as you're undoubtedly aware. Even the chief executives of banks that have been bailed-out by Washington or have gone bust usually end up doing nicely. But despite the riches and perks these men have accumulated and massive egos they've developed along the way, few of them would do all that well in a beauty contest. Because it's high time that Wall Street take advantage of the miracle of modern science—and because we care, dammit—we took the liberty of contacting Dr. Anthony Youn, a board-certified plastic surgeon who has made appearances on Dr. 90210 and the Rachael Ray Show, to ask him what procedures he'd suggest these titans of finance consider if they want to look their very best. Dr. Youn's answers and cost estimates—and our commentary—is below.More

Ken Lewis Comes Up Empty | Ken Lewis, the outgoing CEO of Bank of America, won't be collecting a salary or bonus for 2009, according to the Wall Street Journal. Why? Because the Treasury Department's pay czar, Ken Feinberg, demanded it and the bank conceded rather than put up a fight. Don't shed any tears for Lewis: His retirement package is still worth between $69.3 million and $120 million. But there's reason to believe Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit is quaking in his Ferragamo loafers this evening:More

Goldman Sachs announced third-quarter earnings today and, as expected, Lloyd Blankfein has good reason to smile. The firm raked in $3.1 billion in profits, which was three times what the bank made during the same period in 2008. And Goldman bonuses will set a new record when they're doled out in a few months: A whopping $5.25 billion was set aside this quarter alone to pay for them. (As several people predicted, the firm also announced it was putting a big chuck of money—$200 million—into its foundation this quarter in what appears to be an attempt to counter negative press over the big bonuses.) But travel a few miles north from Goldman HQ to the offices of Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit and the mood isn't as cheery. More

Citigroup Unloads Andrew Hall | Citigroup has solved its Andrew Hall problem. The man in charge of the bank's commodities trading unit, Philbro—and the man who'd created a major headache in recent weeks since he'd been guaranteed a bonus of $100 million while Citigroup still owes the federal government $45 billion—will have a new parent by the end of the year. Citi has announced it's selling the unit to the oil company Occidental Petroleum. One problem down, only a few thousand more to go! [Reuters]

Bob Dylan Sells Out to Citigroup | Were you aware that Bob Dylan is releasing a Christmas album next month? The story gets even stranger today. It seems Dylan has now inked a deal with the America's most troubled financial institution to help market it: More

Do you remember Citigroup's "Live Richly" ad campaign from a few years ago? The bank spent more than $100 million plastering American cities with various cheeky sayings from 2001 to 2005. When the campaign was first introduced, it was during the mini-recession of 2001, and since Citi's existence wasn't threatened during that particular downturn, the bank managed to find some humor in the fact many Americans had lost their jobs or weren't earning as much as they had in the past. If you look back at them now, though, you'll see that they contain lots of useful advice for the 53,000 people who have been laid off by the bank over the past year ("Make ends meet. Bend down and touch your toes"), as well as the Citi employees who have managed to hang on, but who won't be collecting fat bonuses now that the federal government owns a third of the bank ("Go on a spending diet, but don't forget to sneak a little dessert"). Click here to experience the irony in all its embarrassing glory.

Citigroup chairman Dick Parsons hasn't been all that successful in fixing the ailing bank. Although Citi indicated yesterday that plans to reduce the government's stake in the bank—and return part of the $45 billion of taxpayer money it's received—it remains the most troubled major financial institution in America. (And it continues to be led by Vikram Pandit, who is probably the worst CEO of a major financial institution that still has a full-time job.) But don't let that stop you from pursuing a little freelance work, Dick.More

There's lot of financial news to be cheerful about today. According to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, the worst recession since the Great Depression is "probably over" at this point, which is certainly nice to hear even if Bernanke did say that it would be some time before the economy really turned around and new jobs were created. But that's not all!More

John Mack announced plans to step down as Morgan Stanley's CEO at the end of the year. He'll won't be departing the bank entirely: Mack will become Morgan's chairman on January 1, and the chief executive role will be handed over to James Gorman, the former McKinsey consultant and Merrill Lynch exec who joined Morgan Stanley four years ago and now heads up the firm's brokerage business. Mack has been making plans to retire long before the financial crisis battered the bank. But the events of the past year certainly played a role in the change in power, and what sort of legacy Mack will leave behind remains an open question.More

Another Dem Fundraiser Goes Down | Steve Rattner has some company today: One more prominent Upper East Side financier and Democratic mega-fundraiser is now facing an embarrassing financial scandal. Hassan Nemazee, who served as the New York finance chairman for John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004 and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hillary Clinton and, later, Barack Obama, was arrested on charges he "tricked" Citigroup into lending him as much as $74 million using phony documents. Nemazee was charged with one count of bank fraud and is expected to appear in federal court this afternoon. Although judging by some of Nemazee's shady political tactics over the years, it's possible that this wasn't first time he's forged a document or two. [Bloomberg]

The past six months or so haven't been much fun for Dick Parsons, the former chairman and CEO of Time Warner. Back in May, it was revealed that he'd had a child with his mistress, who also happened to be 29 years his junior. Since the beginning of the year, he's served as chairman of the board of Citigroup, and that hasn't gone all that well, has it? But you'll be happy to hear that Parsons' personal troubles are about to melt away very shortly. The grape harvesting season in Tuscany kicks off in few weeks, which means Parsons will soon be heading off to his winery in Montalcino, Italy! At least that's what he usually does every September when he turns up to lend a helping hand and pluck grapes off the vines personally. Parsons has called visits to Il Palazzone a form of "mental medicine." A few pics of the therapy that awaits him are below.More

You have to feel a little sympathy for Diana Taylor today. As one of three new boardmembers of beleaguered Citigroup, the former banking regulator will now have to spend part of her days with Citi chief Vikram Pandit and then her evenings curled up in bed with Michael Bloomberg. [NYT/Dealbook]