January 2, 2009

Sir Win Bischoff, from Citigroup, said his industry was "partly to blame" and some within it did feel "remorse".He said forthcoming bonuses would be "way down" at his bank, which received a £35bn bailout from the US government.Sir Win and other senior Citigroup executives have said they will forgo their 2008 bonuses.

In a memo to employees, Sir Win, along with chief executive Vikram Pandit and senior adviser Robert Rubin, said it was fair for them to give up their bonuses - and to cut those of other executives - in light of the "harsh realities of 2008, primarily our earnings results".Citigroup lost $10.42 billion (about £7.2bn) between January and September 2008, and plans to cut 52,000 jobs by early this year.