Is there a dumber institution than Citibank, asks Samir Arora, mocks overhaul plan

Helios Capital's Samir Arora said that he held this opinion because of various reasons, including the bank's actions on their India operations.

“Is there a dumber institution in the world than Citibank,” veteran investor Samir Arora wondered, as he shared a report about the bank’s overhaul plans led by its Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser.

“I don't think so,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Also read: Even as Tata Motors keeps outperforming, Samir Arora says he does not like the stock

Manish Chokani, Director of Enam Holdings, seemed greatly amused and his response was a ROFL emoji.

Citibank’s overhaul plan, which has been making news, involves cutting costs and layoffs across ranks. It is in line with Fraser’s decision to remove layers of management staff and draw up five new divisions, with their heads directly reporting to her.

“Fraser is under pressure to improve Citigroup, which has been mired in a stock slump as headcount and expenses have ballooned in recent years,” the CNBC report shared by Arora said.

“The CEO, who took over in March 2021, is at a pivotal moment as she faces deep investor skepticism that the bank can hit performance targets she outlined last year.”

A comment under Arora’s post asked if his opinion on the bank was because of the cost cutting and added that most major banks were undertaking a similar exercise, “given the macro climate and new capital rules”.

To this, Arora said he held that opinion about the bank, with or without the cost-cutting exercise, and pointed to the changes the bank made in India.

“They are dumb with and without cutting costs... selling off retail in India and then next CEO will come and say that they want to expand in India etc. etc,” Arora said.

Another person commented that a “financial reset will happen” in 2024-25 and that the US dollar would “no more be the main international currency”.

To this, Arora said he trusted no other currency but the dollar. “I don't know about other things but USD will still be the international currency for a long time. No trust on any other currency,” he wrote.