witnesses included the citibank ceo.this is slightly less than an hour and half. >> we will put your written statement and the record. >> thank you. thank you for inviting me here. citigroup today is a fundamentally different company from what we inherited two years ago. citigroup is now operating on a very strong foundation to generate sustained profitability for the benefit of all of our stakeholders. for us and for many other institutions, the bridge to the other side with sound footing came from the american people and i want to thank the country for providing us with part funding. last year, we repaid $20 billion of carper investments. in addition, we paid the government $3 billion on dividends and another 5.3 billion on premiums on the asset to guarantee program that we have now and to the -- that we have now exited. citigroup pose a large debt of gratitude to the american taxpayer. -- citigroup owes a large debt of gratitude to the american taxpayer. we have reduced our risk exposures, the find a more clear strate

citibank, of course, is a different position.two board members are now, they recently announced are leaving the board. is there any plan for the government to have members of the board? >> we have the right and the ability to vote on directors. that's the position that we'll take at the appropriate time. >> so you have no plans to put a government representative on the board? >> i would note citigroup's board has changed significantly in recent times. in response, i presume, to this crisis. >> but that was not due to government prompting or -- >> i cannot comment on that. i don't have that information. >> okay. my time is up. thank you. >> mr. silvers? >> thank you. assistant secretary allison, i'm somewhat disappointed by the way you appear to be narrowing your testimony in response to questions from the chair. i'm looking at your written testimony now. i want to make sure that i -- it appears to me that the statement on page three of your written testimony in response to in relation to the treasury's investment in citigroup, tr

morgan, from citibank, from all of these banks that made all these mistakes. that's the problem they're having. >> moyers: you mean the taxpayers cannot get their money back, because the taxpayers put up the money to bail out these companies? >> right. there are so many paradoxes... >> moyers: yeah. >> ...in this mess. >> moyers: for example, that propaganda by the chamber of commerce, and it is propaganda. how do these reform groups counter that? how do they reach the ordinary citizens? with that kind of distinction you just made? >> it's a very big problem, bill. we don't... you know, many people don't have a voice. i think that the frustration that you sense, that i sense, that a lot of people feel out there about this lack of reform and about the banks being in control and sort of, you know, lording it over washington, really comes from a sense that there's no outlet for their rage and their anger. they don't have a lobbying organization to go to congress and say, "what about these millions of people over here? this one who just lost their job. this one wh

melting down, who is holding the stuff and they did the research and they said look at maryland and citibank and these firms, bear stearns and lehman brothers and they started buying credit to default swaps model no mortgages which they have been doing but on the firms themselves and the $5 billion doing that in 2008. but then in early 2009 he doesn't just take the trade-off he starts going along. he starts buying the three banks he did against and it's a remarkable impressive, and i see it all the time with the best investors they've got this almost in personal kind of way of looking at the portfolio they don't fall in love with their investment which is what the average investor often does. someone told me that you don't want to be married to these kinds of people they can't really kind of separate and not get tied up emotionally. that's not to say john paulson isn't a person to be married to. he's probably a good person to be married to come a good father and good person i'm told. but you don't fall in love with a portfolio and it doesn't necessarily make for someone who is going to neces

citibank, of course, is a different position.two board members are now, they recently announced are leaving the board. is there any plan for the government to have members of the board? >> we have the right and the ability to vote on directors. that's the position that we'll take at the appropriate time. >> so you have no plans to put a government representative on the board? >> i would note citigroup's board has changed significantly in recent times. in response, i presume, to this crisis. >> but that was not due to government prompting or -- >> i cannot comment on that. i don't have that information. >> okay. my time is up. thank you. >> mr. silvers? >> thank you. assistant secretary allison, i'm somewhat disappointed by the way you appear to be narrowing your testimony in response to questions from the chair. i'm looking at your written testimony now. i want to make sure that i -- it appears to me that the statement on page three of your written testimony in response to in relation to the treasury's investment in citigroup, tr

megyn: so you're telling me when i go into citibank or wachovia, now, to apply for a mortgage or a car the government could be involved in that transaction too? >> in the future, question. megyn: really? >> they're trying to set up something called the consumer financial protection agency, a stand-alone agency like the environmental protection agency, for example, appointed by the president, politically controlled, and that would look at your transaction, your mortgage. was it fair? did you understand the mortgage that you just have taken out? megyn: how are you going to do all this? now the government's going to be running a large portion of the health care system, they're already running a large portion of the auto system, now they're going to be running a large portion of wall street and our banking business, who's going to do all this? do we need to hire more federal mows? >> yes. [laughter] haven't you heard? they're hiring an extra 16,500 irs agents to impose health care reform. what you're talking about is a much more bureaucratic situation. i really hate bureaucracy, but i thin

citibank, of course, is a different position.two board members are now, they recently announced are leaving the board. is there any plan for the government to have members of the board? >> we have the right and the ability to vote on directors. that's the position that we'll take at the appropriate time. >> so you have no plans to put a government representative on the board? >> i would note citigroup's board has changed significantly in recent times. in response, i presume, to this crisis. >> but that was not due to government prompting or -- >> i cannot comment on that. i don't have that information. >> okay. my time is up. thank you. >> mr. silvers? >> thank you. assistant secretary allison, i'm somewhat disappointed by the way you appear to be narrowing your testimony in response to questions from the chair. i'm looking at your written testimony now. i want to make sure that i -- it appears to me that the statement on page three of your written testimony in response to in relation to the treasury's investment in citigroup, tr

citibank has a new program that i hope a lot of the other lenders follow, allowing six months where the bar work and pay a percentage of their unemployment insurance towards their mortgage while they stay for the sale of the house, rather than the bar were immediately going into foreclosure. there are things that lenders are doing to work with homeowners to keep them in the house, reducing the pain and suffering for all involved. there is much interest in working gathered. the government would be most helpful here to force lenders and consumers to the table. one of the things we have not mentioned on the program, there was a lot of debate around bankruptcy for reform. hot -- bankruptcy reform. ironically, congress took this away a couple of decades ago, you cannot protect your home. if this protection existed, you would force everyone at the table to renegotiate to a more responsible level where the bar were is still on the hook, but at least it narrows the deficit that the bar were is suffering from, keeping them in their home, stopping foreclosures. host: carol, auburn, massachusets.

citibank, they are the rich now, we are poor after they robbed us of our money. this -- host of this twitter comment, open -- "the health- care law will be overturned by the supreme court once signed into law based on mandating that citizens purchase private insurance." this morning from "the washington post" "i feel your pain, i was elected on the coattails of a popular democratic president. one year later the partisan gridlock ran into a vote for the democrats said would remake the country and republicans promised would bankrupt it. i was pressed on all sides, constituents oppose, president needing a victory, republicans promising my demise. i have repeatedly said that i would not vote to raise taxes, i voted my conscience and it cost me. i urge you to cast a vote that you can be proud of next week, next year, and for years to come. given the opportunity, i would not change my vote, but then again what do i know? i was a lousy politician." pennsylvania, republican line. good morning. caller: that lady has it right. these strong arm tactics are ridiculous. they

i know that citibank is on the other banks in senator poe folio 90, wells.on the loans they have a portfolio we're beginning to see some principal right now. that's it's going to put people in a position. those were still working to be able to continue to pay on their mortgage. so i think without that kind of initiative, i don't see that we are going to make a lot of progress. >> the gentleman's time has expired. >> who foot the bill for that? >> who foot the bill is the folks who kind of greatest crisis in the first place. wall street and big banks reduce the printable. the government can step in for the ballot paper get it down to some reasonable amount where you can keep the families and the house and eventually the equity appreciation over time will bring value back to the homeowner. so it's the industry stepping up and matching at least the governments initiative here. >> the gentleman's time has expired and i yield to the gentlewoman from california. >> well, i have a constituent whose parents are in the brink of losing their home to an auction and les

citibank has a new program that i hope a lot of the other lenders follow, allowing six months where the bar work and pay a percentage of their unemployment insurance towards their mortgage while they stay for the sale of the house, rather than the bar were immediately going into foreclosure. there are things that lenders are doing to work with homeowners to keep them in the house, reducing the pain and suffering for all involved. there is much interest in working gathered. the government would be most helpful here to force lenders and consumers to the table. one of the things we have not mentioned on the program, there was a lot of debate around bankruptcy for reform. hot -- bankruptcy reform. ironically, congress took this away a couple of decades ago, you cannot protect your home. if this protection existed, you would force everyone at the table to renegotiate to a more responsible level where the bar were is still on the hook, but at least it narrows the deficit that the bar were is suffering from, keeping them in their home, stopping foreclosures. host: carol, auburn, massachusets.

other@@@@@@@@@ @ $)g >> i have a few questions just looking forward the business because we all want citibank to pay back the t.a.r.p. funds. when you look at the base it seems like some of the greatest opportunities may be abroad rather than the u.s. and you seeñr any potential problem vis-a-vis the. our full package as a company is we can help you in the u.s. but we can help you where you want to go to sell your products to whichever consumer basically you want to sell your product to. >> on a risk basis based not just in the u.s. but also in the other kings. -- countries. >> i think sources of funding is really important and having diversified sources of funding is important too. >> and for an industries liabilities tax which would basically treat foreign source deposits as a tax liability in this case. and then thus be taxed. how do you view those sorts of proposals? >> i think each of those proposals have to be looked at[ in the context of what's the economic impact. economic impact and our ability to serve our clients and their ability to export. what does that mean for jobs? what does