Citi's Rhodes Warrior

January 29, 2010 - What would Citigroup do without Bill Rhodes?

It’s a fair question to ask. The troubled U.S. bank has had four CEOs in the past seven years and suffered heavy turnover among top executives in its investment bank. But the indefatiguable Rhodes, now in his 53rd year at Citi, has been a steady and reassuring presence as the bank's Senior Vice Chairman, and arguably its greatest ambassador abroad, from the debt crises of the 1980s through today’s turmoil.

“I should have retired at 65,” Rhodes says on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Instead, he’s going as strong as ever at the age of 74. On Thursday, Rhodes met here with presidents Lee Myung-bak of South Korea and Álvaro Uribe of Colombia, two markets where Citi sees good growth opportunities. Rhodes is frustrated that free-trade pacts that the U.S. has negotiated with both countries are stalled in Congress. Korea’s deal has been on hold for two years. That hurts U.S. credibility at a key time, he says.

Seoul will host the G-20 summit meeting later this year – the first time anyone outside the old G-8 bloc has done so – and developing nations will be looking to exercise greater influence over global economic policies and financial regulation at the gathering. “We need to do this not only for trade reasons but for strategic reasons,” he says of the trade deal.

Rhodes has also been a crucial voice for Citi in the debate over financial regulation, which has dominated the forum this week. The banker is careful not to overtly criticize the Obama administration’s proposal last week to bar banks from proprietary trading and running hedge funds and private equity funds, but he does warn of the risks of fragmentation of the G-20 process. Unilateral regulatory initiatives “that are not consistent with the thrust of international measures will damage the financial system,” he says.

As for Citigroup, Rhodes is happy to preach the cause of greater simplicity. CEO Vikram Pandit has been unwinding much of the vast financial supermarket built by Sandy Weill and reducing the group to its commercial and investment banking core. For Rhodes, it’s back to the future. He patrols the corridors and hotels of Davos carrying a black briefcase that he has been using since before the Citi-Travellers merger. The insignia? “Citibank, Emerging Markets.”

“Our best footprint is in international, the emerging markets,” he says.

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