Citigroup Appoints Former Mexican President - Ernesto Zedillo to Board

Citigroup, (NYSE: C) is having the predictable shakeup on their corporate board. Gone are Michael Armstrong and Xerox Corp. Chairman Anne M. Mulcahy, who won’t stand for re-election. And Citigroup named former Mexico President Ernesto Zedillo to the board.

At least Zedillo is an economist and presumably knows something about banking, unlike Citi’s chairman Richard Parsons who was the former CEO of Time Warner.

“Zedillo’s extensive experience as a world leader and his expertise in global economics make him a valuable addition to the Board,” Parsons said in the statement.

Since Parsons did such a good job at Time Warner, presiding over the biggest merger blunder in corporate history, ( AOL – Time Warner) one wonders what his qualifications were to be Citi’s chairman in the first place. Perhaps, he should have announced his own departure.

When will U.S. corporate boards stop being cushy retirement communities for former executives, whose main qualifications are who they play golf with? Not their willingness to work hard for shareholders. See my previous Benzinga article entitled, 60 Ways to Screw Your Shareholders – Corporate Boards.”

Appointing Zedillo to Citi's board is at least a step in the right direction.