WASHINGTON - Citigroup has announced changes in several top management roles in the company in what the troubled bank’s Indian American CEO Vikram Pandit described as moves that will “further help in positioning our company for the future”. But Pandit, who has been the target of much criticism for his management of Citigroup, himself remains at the helm as the bank seeks to reshape itself and prepares for the US government to become its largest shareholder.Edward Kelly, who was appointed Citi’s finance chief in March, will now become the bank’s vice chairman, a role that includes guiding Citi’s strategy and acquisitions, the company said in a news release. John Gerspach, who had been Citi’s controller and chief accounting officer, will succeed Kelly as chief financial officer. CFO Ned Kelly will step down and transition to a role with “broader responsibilities for strategy and M&A”, which likely means he will be responsible for selling parts of the company to simplify operations, analysts said.

Gary Crittenden, who was Citi’s CFO for two years before becoming chairman of subsidiary Citi Holdings, will leave the company to spend more time with family. The changes come one week before Citigroup is scheduled to report their second quarter earnings results. Analysts on average expect Citi to lose $0.26 per share, compared to $0.54 cents in the same quarter last year. All estimates anticipate a loss, a sign of how Citi has struggled to attract believers that it can turn its operations around. Citigroup has received the largest amount of government assistance of any bank; through the Troubled Assets Relief Programme (TARP), the Treasury Department has invested $45 billion in return for preferred stock, and received another $27 billion in preferred stock in exchange for guaranteeing losses on more than $300 billion in assets. The US government later converted its preferred stock into common shares, becoming the largest shareholder in Citigroup and making the bank one of the best-capitalised in the world according to regulatory ratios.