Pandit’s Exit Means End of ‘Shock and Awe’ Era: Bank Analyst

These issues, along with a lagging share price and "the perceived slow pace of the shrinkage of Citi Holdings," soon led the board to conclude that an executive with more bank "operational experience" was needed, Bush explains.

Unlike others in the industry, Pandit's legacy is not that of "a really bad CEO" or of "a visionary and indispensable" top executive, she notes: "Instead, he was a crisis-era fixer who steadied the company and placed it on its present trajectory, and now it's time to move on to the next chapter."

The leadership transition is a signal that Citigroup's board "finally awoke from its torpor and started listening to the demands of its shareholders," says Bush. "This is a huge development in a normally complacent industry, and this is sure to be noticed by directors of banks both large and small."

The analyst also argues that it represents "that the era of crisis has passed and that we have moved into an era that will prize operational skills over strategic 'vision,' and we can all thank God for that."

Yes, this shift means a "new era" of bank leaders and "boring" industry results, Bush concludes.

"The departure of Pandit, while certainly newsworthy, may mark one of the last of the paroxysms of 'shock and awe' among the major banks."

Can investors and observers live with "a banking industry that's not going to blow itself up every seven years or so?" she asks.

The future is likely to mean less volatility, lower dividend growth and so forth, Bush says. "This is all ahead of us now, but I can say that in the wake of the events of the past five years, boring is looking pretty good to me."