Citigroup (NYSE: C) CEO Vikram Pandit Writes in Support of Financial Reform

Citigroup’s CEO (NYSE: C) Vikram Pandit penned a letter to President Obama to support key financial reform principals after the White House called upon executives in the financial industry last week to support passing strong regulations.

“I believe banks should not speculate with their capital. I believe in transparency of markets. I believe derivatives should be cleared and settled centrally. I believe there should be a strong federal consumer authority to protect consumer interests,” wrote Pandit.

“We must have a strong systemic regulator. With respect to compensation, we need a merit-based system driven by long-term performance. And it is essential to have a level playing field across the global financial industry,” Pandit continued.

“We’ve worked to reach out to the business community as a part of our broad outreach to solicit support for financial reform. Since we see reform as good for business and good for consumers, we’d welcome their support but not at the expense of weakening the bill,” the official said. “While financial industry lobbyists are still working overtime to kill or weaken the legislation, some financial firms did send broad letters of support.”

During a speech last Thursday, President Obama chided bankers for their misbehavior and to call off their “battalions” of lobbyists.

Pandit sent the letter the following day, however Citigroup and other banks have continued to lobby aggressively against certain provisions of financial reform legislation.