Citi Adds Two Prominent Board Members

Citigroup's (NYSE:C) board has named two heavyweights as independent directors, including the former chief executive of Ernst & Young.

The third-largest bank on Monday said its board has elected James S. Turley and Gary M. Reiner as directors. Both will also sit on the board of the Citibank retail bank subsidiary.

Turley spent more than a decade running Ernst & Young as chairman and CEO, before retiring at the end of June. He will sit on Citigroup's audit committee.

Reiner, the operating partner of private-equity firm General Atlantic, is a former longtime chief information officer at General Electric (GE). He will help oversee Citigroup's operations and technology, the bank said in its news release.

The appointments add more corporate expertise to Citigroup's board, which drew criticism for its lax oversight before the financial crisis that forced the bank to take three government bailouts. Since then Citigroup has named several directors with more financial experience and a longtime banker, Michael O'Neill, as chairman. Last year, the board abruptly forced out former CEO Vikram Pandit and replacing him with Michael Corbat.

O'Neill cited the corporate experience of Turley and Reiner in a press release, saying, "both of these new directors will bring considerable insight to the board."