Citibank now fires a whistleblower for ‘underperformance’, after the former employee provided records requested by the OCC.
Citi has filed a countersuit against its former employee, Kathleen Martin, alleging that she was terminated not for refusing to falsify records for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), as she claimed in her lawsuit from May, but rather for being unable to properly fulfill the duties of her role.
Martin, who was let go from her position as Citi’s interim data transformation chair in September 2023 after nearly two years with the bank, had alleged in her lawsuit that she was fired for not agreeing to Chief Operating Officer Anand Selva’s request to conceal information from the OCC that would make the lender “look bad.”
In a revised lawsuit, Kathleen Martin has accused Citi’s Chief Operating Officer Anand Selva of intentionally deceiving the bank by wanting to misrepresent Citi’s compliance metrics to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Martin claims Selva sought to conceal information from the OCC that would have made the bank “look bad.”
However, Citi maintains that Martin’s termination in September 2023 was not due to her refusal to falsify records, but rather because she lacked the necessary “leadership and engagement skills” to effectively execute the role of interim Data Transformation Chair, which she had been appointed to after the previous chair, Rob Casper, departed the company.
Citi asserts that during Martin’s interviews and assessment for the interim role, it was identified that she needed to improve in areas like her “dogmatic nature, lack of innovation and lack of experience driving the execution of complex change across Citi.”
Once Casper left, Citi’s senior leadership, including COO Selva, determined that Martin could not successfully fulfill the demands of the interim chair position.
According to Citi, COO Anand Selva tried to help the plaintiff, Kathleen Martin, improve her performance in the interim Data Transformation Chair role.
Selva allegedly set up one-on-one meetings and working groups to facilitate better collaboration and working relationships with stakeholders.
Selva’s HR team also provided Martin with a senior mentor to support her development.
In May 2023, Citi leadership discussed a plan to improve Martin’s performance.
In July, Selva conveyed Martin’s mid-year review before she raised any concerns about his behavior.
Soon after, Martin contacted HR and expressed fears about her job security.
Citi claims that Martin “felt her position was at risk,” but the bank asserts that internal documents showed she “exceeded expectations” and that CEO Jane Fraser had commended her for her “gravitas” and ability to build “strong relationships” at the bank.
However, Citi says Martin failed to heed the feedback provided, and she was ultimately removed from the Data Transformation Chair role because she lacked the “executive level relationships” and leadership needed to successfully execute the data transformation efforts.
Citi says the data transformation work was too critical for the bank to tolerate Martin’s underperformance.
Citi denies Martin’s claims that she protested the reporting of a key metric accurately or that Selva objected to it.
The bank says Selva and Martin met in September 2023 to discuss reporting certain metrics using red, amber, and green scales.
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Also Read: The US Treasury Direct is Now Freezing Customer Accounts
Other Banking News Today
Massive US banks now prepare for millions to default according to Q2 reports, as institutions increase capital to cover insolvencies.
Big banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo are boosting their financial defenses as they prepare for customer inflow to dwindle, affecting the ability for the average American to pay their bills.
According to the latest Q2 2024 financial reports from major banks, they are significantly increasing the amount of capital they are setting aside to cover potential losses from rising credit card and loan defaults.
Collectively, these banks are allocating billions of dollars into emergency provisions and loan loss reserves to prepare for an anticipated increase in insolvencies and non-performing loans.
This reflects the banks’ growing concerns about the potential for a rise in credit card delinquencies and loan defaults in the coming months.
By bolstering their loss-absorbing capital buffers, the banks are attempting to proactively mitigate the financial risks posed by a potential surge in credit-related delinquencies and insolvencies.
This suggests the banks foresee a deterioration in consumer credit quality and are taking prudent steps to strengthen their balance sheets and resilience against such adverse credit trends.
The significant increase in these emergency loan loss provisions across the banking sector signals that the institutions are bracing for a potential economic downturn that could lead to a rise in loan defaults and credit-related write-offs.
This move underscores the banks’ efforts to position themselves to better withstand any upcoming challenges in the credit markets.
JPMorgan Chase is leading the way, increasing its provisions from $1.88 billion in the first quarter of this year to $3.05 billion – a $1.17 billion jump.
Meanwhile, Bank of America has set aside $1.5 billion, up from $1.3 billion in the previous quarter, and Wells Fargo set aside $1.24 billion, up from $938 million in the previous quarter.
The increasing balances show banks are anticipating increasing economic risk in the months ahead as commercial real estate flounders and as consumers pile up a whopping $1.02 trillion in credit card balances, according to TransUnion.
Delinquency rates across various types of debt are already on the rise, and the New York Federal Reserve says total US household debt hit $17.69 trillion in the first quarter of this year, an increase of $184 billion from the previous quarter.
The number includes mortgage balances, which rose by $190 billion to $12.44 trillion, and auto loans, which increased by $9 billion to $1.62 trillion.
Also Read: A Massive US Bank is Now Closing Credit Cards
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