Citi has appointed Vikram Pandit as the company's new chief executive officer and member of the board of directors, with immediate effect. Earlier press reports had indicated that Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann had been offered the top job at Citi but had declined it. The US bank’s previous chief executive, Charles Prince, announced his departure from Citi on 5 November after the firm reported a 57 per cent or $2.8 billion decline in its third-quarter earnings. Sir Win Bischoff, who has been acting chief executive officer since 4 November 2007, will succeed chairman Robert Rubin, who will return to his previous duties as a member of the Citigroup board of directors and chairman of the executive committee of the board. Mr Pandit was most recently chairman and chief executive officer of the Institutional Clients Group, which comprises Citi Markets & Banking and Citi Alternative Investments. Previously, he was a founding member and chairman of Old Lane a multi-strategy hedge fund and private equity fund manager acquired by Citi in 2007. Prior to founding Old Lane, Mr Pandit held a number of senior positions at Morgan Stanley over more than two decades, including president and chief operating officer of Morgan Stanley's Institutional Securities Group, which included Morgan Stanley's investment banking, fixed income and capital markets businesses. Sir Win was previously chairman of Schroders before joining Citi in 2000, with the acquisition of Schroders' investment banking business by a Citi predecessor company. Most recently, he has chaired Citi's businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.