Merrill's Cribiore joins Citigroup's i-bank

Cribiore, 62, is the latest outsider to join Citi's executive ranks, after Morgan Stanley alum Vikram Pandit last summer became chief of the investment bank and--only months later--replaced Charles Prince as chief executive of the entire company.

Cribiore is stepping down from Merrill Lynch's board of directors, where he was a member since 2003.

But he will stay on as non-executive chairman of Brera Capital Partners, the private equity firm he founded in 1997, as it "continues, as planned, its orderly liquidation," New York-based Citigroup said in a statement.

Late last year, Merrill Lynch named Cribiore as interim non-executive chairman after ousting its chairman and CEO, Stan O'Neal. Cribiore chaired the search committee for O'Neal's replacement, which ended up being John Thain, then head of the New York Stock Exchange.

Cribiore will play "a key leadership role in leveraging Citi's global network," Citigroup said in a statement. He will report to John Havens, CEO of Citi's investment bank, and work closely with the group's co-heads, Raymond J. McGuire and Alberto Verme.

"I feel this is the right time for me to make this move," Cribiore said in a statement. "I am delighted by the excellent progress that Merrill has made under John's leadership over the past nine months and have great confidence in the company's long-term prospects in the hands of this capable board and world-class senior management team. With this move, I return to a hands-on operational role, as opposed to a purely advisory position."

In July, 23-year Citi veteran Michael Klein stepped down as chairman of the investment bank--known as the Institutional Clients Group--to "pursue other opportunities."

The group has written down more than $40 billion since last summer, when the credit markets froze up because of spiking mortgage defaults and as the value of debt-related assets plummeted.

Citigroup, which has also racked up several billion dollars in credit losses from actual loans going sour, has been restructuring the company and reshuffling its management in an effort to return to profitability after three straight quarters of net losses.

Shares of Citigroup declined $1.31, or 6.7 percent, to $18.30 Thursday. Merrill shares fell $2.12, or 7.5 percent, to $26.21.