Citigroup Inc. announced Wednesday that Brian Leach will take over as chief risk officer, making him the company's third risk chief in as many months and bringing another former colleague of chief executive Vikram Pandit into the executive suite.
Mr. Leach was a co-founder of Old Lane Partners LP with Mr. Pandit, and before Citi's announcement was the hedge fund unit's CRO and chief operating officer.
The company also announced the appointment of four risk officers reporting to Mr. Leach. Suneel Bakhshi was named CRO for the global consumer group and Citibank; Charles Monet is to oversee risk in capital allocation; Greg Hawkins is to oversee real estate and mortgage exposures; and Adil Nathani is the risk chief of structured credit.
Scrutiny of the risk management function has intensified in the midst of a subprime crisis that has generally been characterized as the largest risk management failure on Wall Street in years.
"Taking intelligent risk is the core of our business," Mr. Pandit said in a memo to Citi employees. "As our industry grapples with one of the most difficult periods in market history, we at Citi are moving aggressively to transform our risk management culture into a significant competitive advantage."
Changes at the top of Citi's risk function have generally followed CEO changes. David Bushnell announced his retirement as CRO on Nov. 19, two weeks after Charles Prince stepped down as CEO; his successor, Jorge Bermudez, took the post less than a month before Mr. Pandit was named CEO.
Mr. Pandit's memo described Mr. Leach as an "industry risk veteran" who was one of six people that managed the liquidation of Long Term Capital Management.
According to the company, Mr. Bermudez had signaled his intention to retire in October — even before he assumed the risk chief post.
