Charlie Gasparino Reporting That Vikram Pandit Is Hosting A Lunch With Large Citi Investors Today (C)
Fox Business Network's Charlie Gasparino is reporting that Citigroup (NYSE: C) chief Vikram Pandit is holding a lunch meeting today with major institutional investors in Citi. The meeting was apparently put together by Sanford C. Bernstein banking analyst John McDonald. The meeting will include around two dozen institutional clients of Bernstein.
Citi's management has recently been at odds with CLSA analyst Mike Mayo with regard to the bank's accounting for tax credits known as "deferred tax assets," or DTA's. Gasparino has been reporting on this issue for some time, and it apparently some investors are beginning to get a little spooked.
According to Gasparino, Pandit and CFO John Gerspach are expected to be asked many of the same questions that Mayo has posed. Citi is describing this meeting as "private and routine," but look to Citi's stock price in the coming days for clues about how satisfied the investors were with the answers management provides to their questions.
If the perception that untoward accounting practices are taking place at the bank begins to take hold, expect the increased concerns to manifest in the form of a sinking share price.
