In Borrowed Time: Two Centuries of Booms, Busts, and Bailouts at Citi, Wall Street Journal assistant editor James Freeman and George Washington Law School visiting scholar Vern McKinley vividly recount the bank's story from its founding, two days before the start of the War of 1812, through the 2008 financial crisis.
Under his leadership, Citi won Standard Oil and the U.S. government as clients and became the first American bank to reach $1 billion in assets.
Politically driven restrictions on branch banking limited opportunities for domestic expansion, so from the Taylor era forward, Citi sought growth abroad. Vanderlip accelerated Citi's international presence.
Citi tapped former Clinton Treasury secretary Robert Rubin in 1999 to a senior advisory role, for which he reaped $115 million.
Bush instructed his Treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, not to let Citi die; Geithner conjured apocalyptic predictions if Citi failed.
"What kind of signal does that send," asked banking analyst Mike Mayo, "That the bank that was the worst-performing in our country over the last decade and whose stock price is still down significantly since he took over, is the ambassador for our financial industry?" Former Clinton official and Rubin protégé Jack Lew joined Citi in 2006; Obama brought Lew on as Treasury secretary in 2013.
Former FDIC chair Sheila Bair described Citi as "The original too-big-to-fail bank" and "a sobering reminder that cozy relationships between banks and their government are nothing new in the U.S. and always end badly."
https://www.city-journal.org/citibank-politicization-of-banking
Under his leadership, Citi won Standard Oil and the U.S. government as clients and became the first American bank to reach $1 billion in assets.
Politically driven restrictions on branch banking limited opportunities for domestic expansion, so from the Taylor era forward, Citi sought growth abroad. Vanderlip accelerated Citi's international presence.
Citi tapped former Clinton Treasury secretary Robert Rubin in 1999 to a senior advisory role, for which he reaped $115 million.
Bush instructed his Treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, not to let Citi die; Geithner conjured apocalyptic predictions if Citi failed.
"What kind of signal does that send," asked banking analyst Mike Mayo, "That the bank that was the worst-performing in our country over the last decade and whose stock price is still down significantly since he took over, is the ambassador for our financial industry?" Former Clinton official and Rubin protégé Jack Lew joined Citi in 2006; Obama brought Lew on as Treasury secretary in 2013.
Former FDIC chair Sheila Bair described Citi as "The original too-big-to-fail bank" and "a sobering reminder that cozy relationships between banks and their government are nothing new in the U.S. and always end badly."
https://www.city-journal.org/citibank-politicization-of-banking
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