Citigroup has awarded a promotion to Ted Yarbrough, elevating him from head of asset-backed securities underwriting to chief of a new securitized-product group.

Yarbrough's new assignment encompasses the team he had been leading - a unit that mainly handles investment-banking duties for non-mortgage term securitizations in the U.S. It also gives the New York-based managing director oversight of a massive commercial-paper conduit operation, along with the bank's student-loan securitization business.

The move is tied to a broader streamlining effort under which Citi reshuffled its fixed-income, currency and commodities group and tapped 13 executives to run various teams within the operation. Among those product heads is Yarbrough's boss, Jeff Perlowitz.

Perlowitz, who is ultimately responsible for all of Citi's securitization activities around the world, told staffers of Yarbrough's new role about two weeks ago.

The conduit area that Yarbrough now oversees accounted for $66.5 billion of assets at midyear 2006, placing it second only to ABN Amro among operators of such vehicles. The unit was previously led by Paul Donlin, who recently left Citi on amicable terms to pursue undisclosed interests.

Donlin's top lieutenants, Lalie Clark, Jim Murray and Drew Riethmuller, now report to Yarbrough. Murray oversees conduit operations worldwide from New York, making him responsible for structuring Citi's vehicles, handling administrative duties, selling new paper and dealing with regulators and rating agencies.

Clark, also in New York, is in charge of originating and structuring deals for Citi's conduits in North America. London-based Riethmuller does the same in Europe, where he also answers to regional securitization head David Basra.

Securitization underwriting on the student-loan side, meanwhile, was the territory of a separate staff headed by Paul Sheldon and Mark Weadick. They previously reported to Perlowitz, but now answer to Yarbrough - whose old asset-finance team also worked on some education-loan transactions.

In addition to underwriting a variety of other types of securitizations, that group invests in a wide range of offerings and arranges warehouse facilities for clients. Yarbrough had been overseeing the division since June, when co-head Bob Malin died unexpectedly. They previously ran the unit together for four years.

Already working under Yarbrough were John Dahl in Hong Kong and Michiaki Ishiguro in Tokyo, who continue to lead crews that work on term and conduit securitizations for Asia-based clients. Back in New York, Jeff Cady and Christian Anderson were running term-ABS underwriting on a day-to-day basis with Yarbrough as their superior - a structure that remains in place. Yarbrough doesn't have responsibility for Citi's term-securitization activities in Europe.