By David Henry
(Reuters) - Manuel Medina-Mora, a senior CITIGROUP (C.NY)Inc
Medina-Mora, who runs Citigroup's consumer bank around the world, was expected to retire before his 65th birthday in August, people familiar with the matter said.
But his departure is being announced roughly a year after Citigroup reported fraudulent loans at the Banamex unit where Medina-Mora built his career. It was an embarrassing and costly matter for Citigroup that also tainted the legacy of Medina-Mora, who was once thought to be a CEO candidate.
Separately on Friday, Citigroup indicated in a securities filing that it cut Chief Executive Michael Corbat's pay by about 10 percent in 2014, a year in which the bank's profit fell by nearly half.
Medina-Mora joined Banamex in 1971 and was CEO of the franchise when Citigroup bought it in 2001. He was promoted to head the broader Latin America region in 2004 and to lead its global consumer banking business in 2010.
Throughout, Medina-Mora remained chairman of Banamex and will keep a non-executive chairman role even after his retirement on June 1, according to a bank memorandum to Citigroup employees. Medina-Mora has not had direct day-to-day oversight of the operation for years, but for an executive known internally as ?Mr. Mexico,? the Banamex scandal was a setback.
Citi has fired 11 employees linked to the fraudulent loans to oil services company Oceanografia, and later replaced Banamex's CEO. The matter has cost the bank more than $500 million before taxes.
Medina-Mora's pay for 2013 was cut to $9.5 million from $11 million because the U.S. unit of Banamex faced separate control issues. On Friday, Citigroup indicated in a securities filing that Medina-Mora's 2014 pay had risen.
In the memorandum to employees, Corbat said Medina-Mora had told him of his decision to retire and credited him with taking Citigroup?s scattershot consumer operation around the world and unifying it into one cohesive business. He said he will name a replacement soon.
In a separate memo announcing his departure, Medina-Mora said he made the decision "after careful consideration and with deep emotion."
During his time as head of global consumer banking, the unit's income from continuing operations has risen 49 percent from $4.7 billion to $6.9 billion. The figures exclude income or losses from Citigroup's "bad bank" known as Citi Holdings.
(Additional reporting by Anil D'Silva and Amrutha Gayathri in Bengaluru; Writing by Lauren Tara LaCapra in New York; Editing by Dan Wilchins and Grant McCool)
