Richard Bowen Profile
Richard Bowen has been widely described in the news media, including the Wall Street Journal, CBS Evening News, and 60 Minutes as the Citigroup whistleblower who repeatedly warned Citi executive management, beginning in 2006, about risky business practices and potential losses related to mortgage lending.
His warnings included a November 3, 2007, email to Robert Rubin, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Citigroup Board of Directors, the Citigroup Chief Risk Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Auditor. In this email, which was disclosed in public testimony, Mr. Bowen attempted to warn Citigroup management and the board of directors about the extreme risks and potential losses to shareholders existing in his business unit. In this email Mr. Bowen also requested that the board of directors perform an outside investigation of his business unit.
Mr. Bowen testified in open hearing on April 7, 2010, before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission about his experiences as Business Chief Underwriter for the Consumer Lending Group of Citigroup. In this position he had credit quality control responsibility over a business that involved the purchase and sale of $90 billion annually of residential mortgage loans. Mr. Bowen's story has been extensively reported in the news media and is also included in The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, the congressional commission's official report to Congress and the President of the United States.
Mr. Bowen's experiences are also highlighted in the 60 Minutes story, Prosecuting Wall Street. "I started raising those warnings in June of 2006. The volumes increased through 2007 and the rate of defective mortgages increased to in excess of 80 percent," Bowen told Steve Kroft in the interview that aired on 60 Minutes on December 4, 2011.
Mr. Bowen has thirty-five years banking experience and has held executive positions in credit, finance, and information technology. Prior to Citigroup Mr. Bowen was Senior Vice President with Associates First Capital Corporation and Bank One Corporation.
Mr. Bowen is currently a Senior Lecturer of Accounting and Finance at the University of Texas at Dallas and is a popular speaker in the field of business ethics. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas, and was named CPA of the Year by the Dallas Society of CPA's in January 2012.
Mr. Bowen was also recognized in the May/June issue of D CEO magazine as the recipient of its annual Financial Executives Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance. And he has also been featured in the cover story of the May/June issue of Workforce Management magazine.