Citigroup Inc. has replaced the head of its Japanese unit, Douglas Peterson, and brought him to New York to help the company repay the US government’s bailout, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

Peterson, 51, joined Citigroup in 1985 and served as chief auditor beginning in 2000. In May 2004, he was named head of the bank’s Japan unit. That year, Peterson told Japanese lawmakers his mandate was to fix compliance breaches that cost the company its private banking license in the country.

Last year Citigroup was reprimanded by Japan regulators, their third reprimand in the country in the last 10 years.

Darren Buckley, head of Citibank Japan Ltd., has replaced Peterson, the paper said.