Citigroup's chairman says his successor may be CEO Corbat

Citigroup may not look far for its next chairman.

The silhouette of a pedestrian holding a mobile device is seen walking past a Citibank branch in San Francisco.

Michael O'Neill, the 71-year-old who has led the bank's board since 2012, said he's "agnostic" about keeping chairman and chief executive officer as separate roles and directors will consider Mike Corbat to be his successor.

Corbat and Wells Fargo's Tim Sloan are the only CEOs at the six largest U.S. banks that don't also fill the chairman role.

Many corporate governance experts call for the two jobs to be separate for oversight, while bank executives say there are advantages to one person filling both.

O'Neill was responding to a question from Wells Fargo bank analyst Mike Mayo, who said on Bloomberg Television Monday that former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. president Gary Cohn should be Citigroup's next chairman.

Bloomberg News
Succession planning Michael Corbat Gary Cohn Citigroup
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