[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

Citigroup is at a loss.

Departed CEO Vikram Pandit left a vacuum in his wake.  Upon his resignation, president and COO John Havens also departed.  Mr. Pandit has been replaced by Michael Corbat, the head of Citigroup’s business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.  Mr. Havens has not been so easy to replace.  [See our Who's News story, "Citi's New Leadership".]

Potential candidates:

• James Forese, the popular head of securities and banking at Citigroup, worked and Salomon Brothers Inc and once ran Citi's fixed-income division, was asked to become the bank's president and COO after Mr. Pandit and Mr. Havens left, according to someone familiar with the matter.
• Manuel Medina-Mora, CEO of Citi’s global consumer banking group, was approached about the idea of becoming president and COO, said two people familiar with the matter.

What are the chances? Mr. Forese has already indicated that he isn’t interested in pursuing the job, the person familiar with James Forese said.  His reluctance has been attributed to the public scrutiny it would bring to his work and compensation.  Nevertheless, the board members who approached Mr. Forese told him to consider the idea a little longer before turning it down definitively.

For his part, Mr. Medina-Mora does not appear to have ruled out taking the job.  It is also possible that Mr. Corbat and the bank's board eliminate the role of the president-COO entirely, according to two other people familiar with the matter.

For further details, go to [CNBC, 10/19/12].