Gary Crittenden was named chairman of Citi Holdings -- one of two divisions created in January, its New York-based parent announced today. He will be replaced as Citigroup CFO -- a job he held for two years -- by Edward 'Ned' Kelly.

Citi hopes the split will enable it to shed noncore assets -- potentially spinning off the Citi Holdings unit and essentially dismantling the empire created by former chairman and CEO Sandy Weill.

Weill created the conglomerate with the help of former lieutenants Charles Prince and Jamie Dimon.

Prince succeeded Weill but was eventually ousted after Citi began reporting massive losses. Dimon, who was passed over for Weill's job and fired, went over to head Bank One -- which was eventually acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dimon went on to take the helm at JPMorgan -- one of the most respected financial institutions today.

As chairman of Citi Holdings, Crittenden will work with Mike Corbat, who was previously named interim chief executive officer. Corbat also oversees brokerage and asset management.

Richard Stuckey heads a special asset pool division at Citi Holdings.

"As CFO, Gary successfully managed Citi's re-engineering efforts and reduced expenses during a challenging environment," Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit said of Crittenden in today's statement. "He is a proven leader with a steady hand and a keen understanding of the complex assets within Citi Holdings."

The consumer finance unit, CitiFinancial, will operate as part of Citi Holdings under the supervision of Steve Freiberg, the company said in a recent announcement.

In the past, CitiFinancial had been a subprime mortgage powerhouse. However -- stung by deteriorating loan performance, a capital crunch at its parent and an idled asset-backed securities market -- the unit's business model is no longer viable.