US regulators put direct pressure on Citigroup to replace its finance chief only weeks before his surprise departure, according to a confidential agreement that contrasts with the two sides' account of the episode.

The document – parts of which have been seen by the Financial Times – will confirm investors' belief that the replacement of Ned Kelly by Citi veteran John Gerspach in July after fewer than four months in the job had been triggered by regulators. It also emphasises the extent of the authorities' involvement in the internal workings of Citi, which recently ceded a 34 per cent stake to the government.

In the late-June agreement with its main regulators – the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Citi said that it would consider whether to replace its chief financial officer before October.