Citi Board of Directors hard at work.

Citigroup directors C. Michael Armstrong and Anne Mulcahy are leaving the board of the company in what is reported as a shakeup. Mr. Armstrong, is the former CEO of AT&T and Ms. Mulcahy, is the current CEO of Xerox Corp. But what does this mean for shareholders?

As noted in the Financial Times on February 28th, Armstrong has previously been replaced as the chairman of the board’s audit committee last year. The departure of the two directors follows the resignation of John Deutch, former head of the CIA, who resigned in January.

While this purge is interesting in its scope, there remains more work to be done on the board from a shareholder perspective. What reforms will shareholders see at the board level of Citigroup? Time will tell. What is interesting here is the impact of shareholder discontent on the board’s composition. Armstrong’s departure was a direct result of shareholder discontent in a previous election and this week’s announcement of his and Mulcahy’s departure from the board suggests a preemptive response to avoid yet another shareholder revolt.

The lesson learned here is that shareholders can have an impact of the corporation if they try. VOting sends a message and sometimes, it sinks in.