This has been quite a battle: Top analyst Mike Mayo squaring off against Citigroup (NYSE: C) executives, with Fox Business egging on the food fight.

The latest tactical move comes from Mayo, who has issued a report called "A Matter of Trust" that suggests Citigroup needs to provide more accurate disclosure about its financial condition.

The bugaboo in the debate is the issue of Deferred Asset Taxes. Mayo has argued that Citigroup relies on DTAs to strengthen its balance sheet more than its peers and that the bank needs to write down much of these DTAs or risk some sort of regulatory action.

Other analysts think Citigroup's treatment has been fair. It remains unclear how Citigroup will grapple with the latest salvo from Mayo, but it can be said that it let some differences with an analyst--which happens all the time--escalate into a media issue.

Citigroup comes off petty, in that CEO Vikram Pandit and CFO John Gerspach apparently refuse to meet with Mayo, though they certainly meet with others. Surely, the situation could have been handled better. This is the mark of investor relations amateurism.

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