Pandit and the playthings

摘要

One of Citigroup's goals, its chief executive, Vikram Pandit, explained at a recent conference, was "reducing assets while optimising value and mitigating risk". In selling Phibro, the bank's freewheeling commodity-trading arm, he has certainly mitigated risk: both the financial sort and the chances of a showdown with the government over a $100m pay package for Andrew Hall, the unit's star trader and proud owner of a German castle.rnBut optimising value? At $450m, the estimated price tag is little more than Phi-bro's average annual net profit in recent years.