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It's a grim day for employees of Citigroup as they hear more about the beleaguered bank's plans to cut costs and slash another 10,000 jobs. But Citi director Dick Parsons doesn't want to see anyone to give up hope. He issued a memo to company employees earlier this morning and urged them to "keep the faith." The memo's below.

To: Citi Employees
From: Citi Board of Directors

It is important for us to communicate with you directly in light of recent media coverage of our company. The news coverage about the Chairman of our Board, Sir Win, is irresponsible and completely inaccurate, and we want you to understand and appreciate our perspective on it.

The Board of Directors and management are operating as one team completely aligned on critical issues, opportunities, and the direction of the company. This is especially important given the extraordinary times in the market and the challenging economic environment we face.

We don’t need to review with you all the things that have been accomplished is such a short period of time, but to highlight just a few:

* Nearly $50 billion in new capital raised prior to the additional $25 billion from the US Treasury.
* A reduction in legacy assets by more than $100 billion since the first quarter in addition to divestiture of a number of businesses.
* The decline of expenses for three consecutive quarters.
* The establishment of a new risk organization, with highly talented professionals, and the reduction of risk overall.
* The reorganization of our businesses to serve our customers better and to help make our people — our most important asset — as productive as possible.

We are confident that the direction our management team has set is the right direction — and the winning direction — for these extraordinary times. Citi is well positioned for growth because of its unique global universal bank model, and because it has the right talent, the right management, and the right approach.

Considering the significant adversity presented by a sustained global market downturn, all of your accomplishments have been nothing short of extraordinary. You are leading by example and you have our full support and appreciation.

Keep the faith!

Richard D. Parsons
Lead Director