In a move Citigroup Inc. said was aimed at broadening the experience of up-and-coming executives, two of its top managers are swapping jobs.
Todd Thomson, 43, who is chief financial officer and head of strategy, will become chairman and chief executive of Smith Barney, Citigroup's brokerage and research arm. The current head of Smith Barney, Sally Krawcheck, 39, will take over a chief financial officer and head of strategy.
Krawcheck was lured from the independent research firm Sanford C. Bernstein in November 2002 with a two-year contract valued at $30 million. Her assignment at Smith Barney was to assure the separation of her stock analysts from investment banking pressures.
In 2002, the nation's top brokerages agreed to pay nearly $1.43 billion to resolve charges they gave biased ratings on stocks to help win investment banking business. Citigroup's brokerage unit, then known as Salmon Smith Barney, paid the heaviest fine, $300 million.
The management changes will be effective Nov. 5, Citigroup said in a statement.
In making the announcement, Citigroup chief executive Chuck Prince said the moves were aimed at "providing these two talented and accomplished executives the opportunity to build upon their skills and capabilities."
Prince said that the new posts would give Thomson an opportunity to run an operating unit, while Krawcheck would get a broader view of the bank, the nation's largest.
He said that Thomson had strengthened Citigroup's finance operations "and consistently promoted greater transparency and clarity" in its financial reports during nearly five years as CFO. Prior to serving as CFO, Thomson was chief executive of Citigroup's global private bank.
Krawcheck, Prince said, "has effectively navigated our private client wealth management and research business through one of the most challenging periods in its history."
