From the Journal's piece about tension between Citi and the FDIC, which wants to can CEO Vikram Pandit:
The discord between Citigroup and the FDIC dates to last fall. In September, Citigroup agreed to buy faltering Wachovia Corp. in a government-arranged marriage. Days later, however, Wells Fargo & Co. swept in with a higher offer for Wachovia. Citigroup officials felt blindsided and faulted Ms. Bair [the FDIC chairman] for endorsing the Wells Fargo bid over their own.
On a 2 a.m. conference call at that time, the usually mild-mannered Mr. Pandit launched into an obscenity-laced tirade about the FDIC chairman, according to people familiar with the call.
Citigroup soon filed lawsuits against Wells Fargo and Wachovia, accusing them of improperly breaking up the Citigroup deal. Citigroup executives came to blame the deal's demise as the catalyst for a plunge in Citigroup's stock price, one cause of the federal bailouts.
Hmm. How bout blaming, I dunno, the $300 billion worth of bad assets on your own balance sheet? Seems like a good place to start.
--Noam Scheiber