INSTANT VIEW: Citigroup to shed $400 billion of assets

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc, the largest U.S. bank, aims to shed $400 billion of assets over the next two to three years, after being hit hard by the subprime mortgage meltdown and ensuing turmoil.

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COMMENTARY:

HEINO RULAND, EQUITIES STRATEGIST, FRANKFURTFINANZ,

FRANKFURT

"I don't know what kind of assets they're talking about but I have the feeling -- and that is penetrating the entire industry -- that the market for these stressed assets is by far not as bad as it used to be."

"There seems to be a certain degree of stability, that would increase interbank liquidity and would mean central banks are less obliged to effectively inject capital at any minute to overcome the stressed situation in the interbank market."

THANE BUBLITZ, SENIOR EQUITY RESEARCH ANALYST, THRIVENT

FINANCIAL, APPLETON, WISCONSIN

"Citigroup is not going to get a pass like they may have gotten at certain points in the past. It's definitely going to be a show me story.

"Something has to be done, and he's (Pandit's) taking action. He's doing things. They need to make a shift in their direction and a cultural change and a structural change.

"They restructured their mortgage business. I think that they will have better controls and a better understanding of all the risks that they had in that business, they're moving toward achieving that. That's an example of what they need to do overall in their organization. The plan looks good in that area."

MIRKO MIKELIC, PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT FIFTH THIRD ASSET

MANAGEMENT IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

"It's not going to be business as usual like the prior Citi, having a lot of far flung businesses. Citi will probably have to be more focused going forward and getting out of markets that have hurt them in the past.

"There are a lot of assets that frankly, they can't punt, because there's no bid for them. It's easy to say you want to sell the business lines or assets that are underperforming, but it will be tough to get a bid. It's tough to get financing just for regular M&A deals."