Citigroup's management is trying to rebuild confidence in the firm

Deryck Maughan, chairman of Citigroup International, Peter Scaturro, head of private banking, and Thomas Jones, head of investment management, are to go.

Japanese regulators discovered improper trading practices and lax anti-money laundering procedures at the bank.

It was the latest in a string of embarrassing revelations for the bank.

Restoring confidence

Citigroup had brought in an independent person to review the closure and concluded that the three shared responsibility for it, according to reports in the Financial Times and Reuters.

Chuck Prince, the Citigroup chief executive, is hoping that the action will restore confidence in the bank, reports said.

Last week, Mr Prince said that incidents such as that in Japan "are simply not acceptable".

Deryck Maughan, one of best known international faces of Citigroup, had previously been chairman of investment bank Salomon Smith Barney and before that, chairman and chief executive of Salomon Brothers.

Mr Jones had previously served as chairman and chief executive of Salomon Smith Barney Asset Management.

Citigroup recently had to admit that it had erred in a massive bond deal in Europe.

Earlier in the year, it settled a $2.6bn lawsuit brought by investors in failed telecoms firm WorldCom, and had to put aside double that amount to cover future legal action.

No one at Citigroup was available for comment.