Citigroup cut CEO Corbat's pay by 10 pct to $13.1 mln in 2014

REUTERS - Citigroup Inc cut Chief Executive Michael Corbat's pay by about 10 percent in 2014, a year in which the bank's profit nearly halved due to higher legal costs and a slump in bond trading.

Separately, the bank said its consumer banking head, Manuel Medina-Mora, would retire in June.

The announcement comes at a time when Citi is pulling out of consumer banking in a number of countries, including Japan and Egypt, as it looks to cut persistently high costs.

Citi, like other big banks, has been cutting costs to boost profit as low interest rates and new regulations crimp revenue growth. But these efforts have been overshadowed by multibillion-dollar fines and higher costs for technology and compliance.

Corbat earned an estimated $13.1 million in 2014, including deferred shares worth about $3.49 million based on the stock's Thursday close. He earned $14.5 million in 2013.

Deferred stock makes up 30 percent of Corbat's bonus pay under Citi's compensation plan, which was overhauled two years ago amid shareholder pressure.

Bank of America Corp cut Chairman and Chief Executive Brian Moynihan's pay by 7 percent in 2014, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. [ID:nL1N0VR2J9]

In contrast to Moynihan and Corbat's smaller pay packages, JPMorgan & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon earned $20 million in 2014, unchanged from a year earlier. His pay package included a first cash bonus in three years.

Medina-Mora joined the Wall Street bank in 2001, when Citigroup bought Mexican lender Banamex. The unit has been beset by multiple problems in the last few years, including fraudulent loans and rogue trading.

Several board members had pushed Medina-Mora to leave, but Corbat and Chairman Michael O'Neill have been supportive of him, the Wall Street Journal reported in October. [ID:nL3N0SA1UW]

His pay for 2013 was cut to $9.5 million from $11 million due to control issues faced at the U.S. unit of Banamex. [ID:nL1N0O00SV]

(Reporting by Anil D'Silva and Amrutha Gayathri in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Jennings)