Citigroup may add three new directors, chairman says

By David Henry

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc may name as many as three more directors to its 11-member board to add skills and share the work load, Chairman Michael O'Neill said on Thursday.

O'Neill, speaking at a conference on corporate governance, said he is not "totally satisfied that we have all of the right skills" on the panel and that he is working to bring people with additional knowledge.

"We would consider adding up to three more directors to add specific competencies and more evenly spread the considerable amount of work," he said.

The panel schedules seven two-day meetings each year and held about 10 additional meetings each of the past two years, he said. Several committees meet monthly.

 

O'Neill did not say exactly which additional talents he seeks for Citigroup, but he noted that banks today need to have a board member who understands digital trends.

The board is considering hiring a new director with technology expertise to better monitor the bank's efforts to improve and integrate its information systems, Reuters reported earlier this month.

Citigroup's stated strategy is to align its business with the trends of globalization, urbanization and digitization. The bank has the most international business of any U.S. bank and ranks third in size by assets.

Last year O'Neill, 66, led the board to abruptly replace then CEO Vikram Pandit with Mike Corbat who had held a range of executive posts at the company. (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr)