By Tatiana Bautzer NEW YORK (Reuters) -Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason will leave his role in March and be succeeded by Gonzalo Luchetti, the current head of the bank's U.S. retail division, it said on Thursday. When Luchetti becomes CFO, his unit will be dismantled and folded into wealth management. The retail bank and Citigold will be led by Kate Luft. She will report to Andy Sieg, Citi's head of wealth. The lender's retail business in the U.S. is much smaller than those of its larger rivals, with around 650 branches in six major U.S. metropolitan areas. That compares with the biggest U.S. bank, JPMorgan Chase, which has about 5,000 branches. Citi’s credit card division, which has large partnerships with Costco and American Airlines, will become a new unit headed by Pam Habner, replacing U.S. Personal Banking as one of Citi's five businesses. CEO Jane Fraser called Mason "a steady hand, proven leader, and dear friend" in announcing his succession. "After more than two decades at Citi, Mark has decided to transition out of the CFO role next year to pursue his leadership aspirations outside of the firm," she posted on LinkedIn. Analysts were surprised by Mason's exit. "He has been a very vocal proponent of Citi's strategy. It seems to be a bit of a loss on the communication." said Stephen Biggar, an analyst at Argus Research. Mason is one of the most senior African American executives in the banking industry, serving as Citi's CFO for the last seven years. He will become an adviser to the CEO in March, preparing the bank for its next investor day in May, and leave by the end of 2026. "It has been an incredible 25-year journey at the firm—one I'm happy to continue in an advisory role through 2026," Mason said in a LinkedIn post. "I know Gonzalo and the team will continue our momentum and push us to new heights." The changes are "not likely to help stock in to year-end," Wells Fargo's bank analyst Mike Mayo wrote in a note to clients. On Friday, Citi's shares were down 0.8% in morning trading. The incoming CFO is "unproven and unknown as a CFO who implicitly assumes post-2026 guides for financial targets that he did not set," Mayo wrote. Mason's transition period will help provide some continuity, the analyst added. Fraser has carried out major reorganizations at the bank, and another reshuffle will require earnings to be restated again, Mayo said. The retail division has $90 billion in deposits that will be added to $318 billion in wealth deposits. (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer in New York, additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in New York and Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, David Gregorio, Rod Nickel and Nick Zieminski)
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