[ by Melanie Gretchen ] Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit is having a good great year.  Notwithstanding the fact that Citigroup was the 2nd-worst performer in last year's KBW Bank Index, and it's grappling with a revenue slump, the 55-year old CEO received a $15 million pay package for 2011, which can total as much as $53 million, based on a multi-year retention package announced in May - that's based on regulatory filings and an analyst’s estimate. And while he agreed to take a $1 annual salary for most of 2009 and 2010, Mr. Pandit however, did receive $80 million last year from Citi's purchase of his Old Lane Partners LP hedge fund in 2007. Over the course of his employment, Pandit has helped Citigroup recover from the brink of near-death, while boosting its net income 4% to $11.1 billion last year.  Those numbers were offset, however, by a 44% drop in price of Citi shares and a nearly 10% fall in revenue.  Moreover, Mr. Pandit plans to cut 5,000 jobs to pare as much as $3 billion of expenses this year Not surprisingly, there are many who criticize the compensation being paid out to Mr. Pandit.  Frank Glassner, CEO of Veritas Executive Compensation Consultants, said by phone that, "It’s obvious Mr. Pandit has been working very, very hard, but they don’t seem to be in line with total shareholder return." Retention Deal. Mr. Pandit was awarded a retention deal in May that included $10 million of stock, and options to buy about $6 million more, a person familiar with the matter said at the time.   The package included a profit-sharing plan that may bring Pandit an additional $22 million, based on earnings estimates from Moshe Orenbuch, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG.  This would possibly give the CEO $38 million on top of his annual compensation. Sale of Old Lane. The $80 million Pandit received in July of last year was part of the $800 million sale of Old Lane to Citigroup in 2007.  He would have forfeited a "substantial portion" of that payment had his employment ended before then "for cause or without good reason," the company said in a regulatory filing last year. Citigroup said that payout is not related to Pandit’s recent performance, according to Citi spokesperson Shannon Bell in an e-mail:

"Linking proceeds from the sale of a business with CEO compensation is not just misleading, it also obscures the fact that these events occur over an 8-year period since the sale of Old Lane closed in 2007 and the retention awards don’t completely vest until 2015, assuming all their terms are met."

Other Banks. Most U.S. banks haven’t announced total 2011 CEO compensation yet.  Pandit’s pay for the year, disclosed in a March 8 filing, included stock awards, $1.67 million in salary, and a $5.33 million cash bonus, his first in 4 years.

• Bank of America cut CEO Brian T. Moynihan’s package for 2011, with no cash bonus and freezing his salary at $950,000, a person briefed on the matter said last month.  It gave him $5.9 million in restricted stock units, mostly linked to future performance, according to a filing.  The bank returned to profitability in 2011 with net income of $1.45 billion, as revenue fell 16%.  The shares tumbled 58%.  The Charlotte, North Carolina-based was the 1st worst performer in the 24- company KBW index last year.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. lender, is likely to award CEO Jamie Dimon a $23 million package for 2011, after the New York-based firm posted a record $19 billion profit, a person briefed on the plans said in January.  Revenue at the bank slipped 5.3% last year, and the stock fell 22%.

Other Executives. In comparison, Mr. Pandit received more than Stuart Gulliver, CEO of London-based HSBC Holdings Plc, who got 7.95 million pounds ($12.5 million) including salary, bonus and equity awards for 2011.  HSBC's net income climbed 28% to $16.8 billion as revenue was little changed, filings show, while stock fell 25%.  The board designed the multi-year package to retain Pandit as CEO and reward him for future performance, Chairman Richard Parsons said in May. Within Citi, COO John Havens, 55, who manages the securities and banking division, or S&B, received about $13 million for 2011, including a $5 million cash bonus, the 3/8/12 filing showed. Profit at the unit, which includes trading and investment banking, fell 24% to $4.9 billion last year. Mr. Havens founded Old Lane with Pandit.  He also received $80 million last year from the sale of the hedge fund. Manuel Medina-Mora, 61, the consumer-banking chief, received about $11.4 million, including a $4.2 million cash bonus.  Profit at the regional consumer-banking unit jumped 33 percent to $6.2 billion in 2011, compared with the prior year. Chief Risk Officer Brian Leach got $11.4 million. He also received $8.6 million from the Old Lane deal, filings show.  In addition, CFO John Gerspach was paid $7.2 million, the bank said. For further details, go to [Bloomberg, 3/12/12].