UPDATE 1-Citigroup CEO says $100 mln annual pay is too much

Published: 17 Sep 2009 21:31:10 PST

NEW YORK, Sept 17 - Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday that $100 million is too much for an employee to earn given the bank's circumstances.

In an interview before an audience in New York, when asked if $100 million was too much money for a Citigroup employee to earn given the government support the bank has received, Pandit said, "Yes."

Andrew Hall, a trader at a Citigroup unit, is contractually entitled to a 2009 pay package that could be worth $100 million. Pandit noted that the business Hall works at, an energy trading unit known as Phibro, had contracts in place that predate Pandit's tenure.

Pandit said Citigroup is working to turn the Phibro business from an operation that trades the bank's money into a unit that manages other investors' capital.