Vikram Pandit had been at Citigroup just five months when he was chosen in late 2007 to succeed Charles Prince, who resigned as chief executive amid ballooning losses on bad mortgage securities, prompting some colleagues to call Pandit the "accidental CEO."

Now, Pandit, at the behest of Citigroup's newly reconstituted board, is taking steps to ensure his successor is no accident. For Pandit, the move is more than just good management.