In the fourth government rescue of Citigroup Inc. and its predecessors in 80 years, the bank received $45 billion under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and a government guarantee of $300 billion in bad assets on Citigroup’s books. Citigroup is one of only two TARP recipients to convert its TARP loans into common stock, making the U.S. government its largest shareholder.[1]

Although Citigroup’s CEO Vikram Pandit volunteered to take $1 in annual pay, his colleague John Havens received more than $11 million in 2009. Pandit is not just working for $1 in pay, however. In 2008, Pandit and Havens each received $79,706,630 from Citigroup’s purchase of Old Lane Partners, a hedge fund the two executives founded together. These funds may be forfeited if they leave Citigroup before 2011.[2]

Citigroup spent $5,560,000 in lobbying expenses in 2009.[3] Citigroup’s lobbyists addressed a variety of issues, including the creation of a consumer finance protection agency, derivatives and credit default swaps, creation of a systemic risk regulator and taxation of executive bonuses for TARP recipients.[4]

Citigroup has retained 46 registered lobbyists, more than any other financial industry company. Citigroup denies that all its lobbyists work on financial reform issues. Molly Millerwise Meiners, a Citigroup spokeswoman, said that “lobbying disclosure reports are often subject to over-reporting and can be highly inaccurate.”[5]

In addition to Citigroup’s registered lobbyists, Citigroup hired Richard Hohlt as a political consultant to help “keep in touch with what’s going on in Washington.” In the 1980s, Hohlt was a top lobbyist for the savings and loan industry whose collapse cost taxpayers $150 billion.[6]

Pandit is a member of the Financial Services Forum, an organization that has opposed limiting the size of financial institutions.[7] He is also a member of the Business Roundtable, which has opposed including corporate governance reform as part of any financial regulation legislation.[8]

Citigroup is a member of the Financial Services Roundtable, which is against the creation of a consumer financial protection agency.[9] Citigroup’s brokerage division is also a member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a group that has opposed taxation of securities transactions.[10]