NEW YORK, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Citigroup ( C/PN ) on Thursday

announced the promotion of 344 executives in 29 countries to

managing directors, known as MD, the bank's higher officer

title.

A memo sent to all employees by the executive management

committee said this year had one of "the largest MD cohorts in

our firm's history."

The committee also said the managing directors are

instrumental in "ensuring we continue making progress on our

Transformation and with our regulators," referring to compliance

with 2020 Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the

Currency consent orders.

This year's promotions are taking place after the sweeping

reorganization of Citi's businesses that began last year to

simplify the bank and eliminate management layers. The

reorganization aims to reduce around 20,000 positions worldwide

by 2026. In the third quarter, Citi reported having 229,000

employees worldwide.