Never in the history of corporate America, at least in recent memory, has any CEO been in the kind of limelight and subjected to the type of media coverage as Vikram Pandit, the newly installed CEO of Citigroup, the world's largest but now embattled financial conglomerate, has been. However, the new CEO faces huge challenges in resurrecting a giant which has been bailed out not once but twice in its decade-long existence.

It is rather hard now to buy the famous assurance, "Citi never sleeps", which Citigroup, the world's largest bank, sold to its customers (and markets) for years. The New York-based giant shocked the markets when it reported record losses of over $11 bn in bad investments related to mortgage-backed securities. In fact, the group lost more money than it made in the four years' trading in financial instruments based on the US subprime mortgages, reported Bloomberg, quoting a senior company executive.

The revelation has forced Citi to cut thousands of jobs in its investment banking division besides closing loss-making divisions. The group has already lost over $120 bn, and its stock is close to its five-year low. And many analysts fear further write-down. According to William F Tanona, Analyst at Goldman Sachs, a top US investment bank, "Citigroup Inc. could write-off as much as $18.7 bn in the fourth quarter."

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