Jane Fraser Has Just Secured the Citigroup Throne

Jane Fraser’s elevation to chair as well as chief executive officer of Citigroup Inc. is a reward for progress and a bulwark against potential pretenders to her throne. Her restructuring of the lumbering and longtime dysfunctional beast that is the US’s third-largest bank by assets is taking time and is far from done. But it was always going to be a tough, disruptive task.

Signs of improvement are starting to show, and Citigroup’s shares have rallied more than rivals in the past year. Its returns on equity are a long way from catching up with Bank of America Corp. or Wells Fargo & Co. — let alone JPMorgan Chase & Co. — but Fraser has earned her solidified position.