NEW YORK (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.