Citi’s former chief executive, Sanford Weill, reportedly pinned the bank’s woes on hiring decisions and faulted his successor, Chuck Prince, for allowing the firm to take on heavy risks.The head of Citigroup in Japan, Douglas Peterson, is returning to New York after overseeing the swift sale of assets in Japan, undertaken as the ailing US bank sought to repay government bailout cash, the Financial Times said, citing unnamed sources.

He will be succeeded by Darren Buckley, head of Citibank Japan, which contains the country's biggest foreign retail-banking network. Both Mr Peterson and Mr Buckley declined to comment, the publication said.

Mr Peterson joined Citigroup in 1985, first in Buenos Aires, then in New York. He also served stints as country corporate officer of Costa Rica and Uruguay. He rose to become Citigroup's chief auditor in 2000. In May 2004, he was named head of Japan, with a mission to restore the firm’s affairs after Citigroup’s private bank was ordered to leave the country due to allegations of malpractices.

In 2007, Citigroup became the first foreign lender in Japan to operate as a local entity. Mr. Peterson orchestrated the buyout of Japan's third-largest broker, Nikko Cordial Corp., and expanded Citigroup's retail-banking network.

Besides a number of senior boardroom changes, there continue to be rumblings of criticism and discontent about the actions of top executives at the ailing bank. Last week, Citi’s former chief executive, Sanford Weill, reportedly pinned the bank’s woes on hiring decisions and faulted his successor, Chuck Prince, for allowing the firm to take on heavy risks.