-By Barry Janoff

As part of a strategy to reboot its financial investments and rebuild its portfolio, Citigroup said late last week that it would consolidate its global marketing and communications operations under Lisa Caputo, Citi's CMO, and appoint Kate James as svp-global corporate communications.

Citigroup, New York, which posted a $5.1 billion loss in Q1 of 2008 and a nearly $10 billion loss in Q4 last year, is in the process of streamlining by cutting more than 13,000 jobs from its global workforce of more than 300,000.

According to Citigroup, Caputo's new title is evp-global marketing and corporate affairs. Her expanded role will include overseeing an integrated global function across Citi's operations in more than 100 countries that encompasses external and internal communications, executive communications, advertising, branding, media, sponsorships, consumer insights and market research and community relations. Caputo has been CMO at Citigroup since 2007.

James, formerly group head of public affairs and strategy for the Americas of Standard Chartered Bank, will be responsible for external and internal communications strategy, media relations and issues management. She will assume her new role in early September.

"Lisa brings superb judgment, strong communications experience and excellent leadership qualities to her new position," Vikram Pandit, CEO at Citigroup, said in a statement. "Her strategic counsel to our senior management team has been instrumental in helping Citi address many opportunities and challenges, and she has demonstrated that she is the ideal person to lead our newly centralized communications and marketing functions."

Citigroup spent more than $482 million in media in 2007 (excluding online), per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Lead agency is Publicis, New York.