Morning Coffee: The other woman striking fear into thousands at Citigroup. When people are too paranoid to leave

efinancialcareers.com:

If you work for Citi now, there are two women who might fill you with apprehension. One is Jane Fraser, the CEO who is on a mission to extract layers of management, do away with pointless meetings and cut jobs, the other is Titi Cole, who is the person tasked with executing Fraser’s intentions.

CNBC reports that Cole, who joined Citi in 2020 and who’s done stints at Bank of America and Wells Fargo, has been put in charge of the reorganization, known internally as ‘Project Bora Bora.’ Cole is considered well placed to manage the cuts, having assisted Wells Fargo in a reorganization past. Her experience is entirely retail-bank related, which may or may not be a good sign for Citi’s investment bankers and traders.

While Citi has cut some heads already, the bulk of the cuts are yet to take place but are likely before bonuses are announced in January. CNBC says cuts of ‘at least 10% in several major businesses’ are likely and that Citi people are already stricken with trepidation. “Morale is super, super low,” one recently ex-Citi banker informs CNBC of the former colleagues he’s spoken to. “They’re saying, ‘I don’t know if I’m getting hit, or if my manager is getting hit.’ People are bracing for the worst.”

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Cole was Citi’s head of legacy franchises before she was handed responsibility for the reorganization. In that role, she sold nine businesses. Speaking in July, Cole said she’s all about empathy, excellence and simplification.

Much as Citi staff might dread Cole's empathic simplicity, the cuts need to take place. Feared banking analyst Mike Mayo points out that Citi is currently generating returns below its cost of capital of circa 10% and that it therefore has, “no right