Citigroup's Krawcheck to leave: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sallie Krawcheck, head of Citigroup Inc's (C.N) wealth management unit, will step down from the company, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Krawcheck, 43, has long been one of the highest-profile women on Wall Street, and was once considered a potential candidate to eventually run all of Citigroup.

Michael Hanretta, a bank spokesman, declined to comment.

Krawcheck would join a string of top Citigroup executives to leave since Vikram Pandit became the bank's chief executive in December. The timing of her departure isn't clear, the newspaper said.

Pandit has been reorganizing the largest U.S. bank by assets and trying to reduce risk, after exposure to mortgages and other risky debt led to $17.4 billion of losses in the last three quarters.

According to the newspaper, Citigroup will move the wealth management unit under the umbrella of its institutional clients group. That group also includes the investment bank and is run by John Havens, like Pandit a Morgan Stanley (MS.N) alumnus.

Michael Corbat, who runs the corporate and commercial bank in Citigroup's investment banking unit, would replace Krawcheck and report to Havens, the newspaper said.

Wealth management includes the Smith Barney brokerage and the private bank, which caters to wealthy clients. Citigroup's other business segments include consumer banking and credit cards, as well as institutional clients.

Krawcheck was chief executive of the independent brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein & Co before Sanford "Sandy" Weill lured her to Citigroup in 2002. Once there, she won wide praise for restoring the luster of Smith Barney, which was tarnished in the Wall Street scandal over biased stock research.

In 2004, Krawcheck became Citigroup's chief financial officer and head of strategy. She then returned to the wealth management job in March 2007, a move some analysts considered a demotion. Citigroup lured Gary Crittenden from American Express Co (AXP.N) to become CFO, a position he still holds.

Krawcheck's compensation in 2007 was roughly $11 million, according to Citigroup's proxy filing.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)