Citi may be looking for partners; India div to cut jobs

Here is a verbatim transcript of CNBC’s Bertha Coombs comments on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.

At this point in time, nobody is saying that there is a merger on the cards. In fact, publicly Vikram Pandit is saying that they are exploring all sorts of options on conference call with senior management. We are told that he said that Smith Barney — the successful brokerage unit of Citi — is not for sale. Among the things that the board is likely looking at this point is also where to find more capital because clearly the sell-off in the stock has the market saying they are worried about Citi’s capital position. On record though, the banking giant continues to say our liquidity and capital position remains strong. But this comes just weeks after getting a USD 25 billion dollar capital infusion from the government and also having raised some capital from one of their biggest shareholders Prince Alwaleed earlier this week.

Even as Citi continues to slash its costs, announcing a 20% cutback in expenses, and a 20% pullback as far as jobs. It is just that at this point there isn’t confidence on the street.

What kind of options they would have? Talking with someone familiar with the situation, [it] looks it is not as though other banks are necessarily lining up to step forward to buy Citi. If they were, and if there were some sort of marriage here, there would have to be a big dowry, this person says. They would expect if Citi were to go on the auction block then the government would have to get involved. The irony is that just scarcely a month ago, Citi was seen as acquiring Wachovia Bank with the help of the Fed. Of course, Wells Fargo ultimately prevailed in that merger. And some say that was a real blow to confidence in Pandit.

Vikram Pandit having stepped into the eye of the storm here in Citi just about a year ago this time, and today [he is] very much in a big fight to try to shore up confidence in this banking giant.