Official reports have confirmed that John Thain has been appointed as the Chief Executive of the CIT Group, the troubled financial firm of the middle-market, which recently managed to emerge from bankruptcy in December, and is mainly under the control of its creditors.

On Tuesday, CIT Group, the commercial lender which recently emerged from a long stint of bankruptcy, confirmed that its Chief Financial Officer will soon be retiring, while also announcing that it is much closer to filling out its board with new leaders.      The retirement of CFO Joseph M.

CIT Group Inc., a lender to small and mid-size businesses, has launched a restructuring plan to erase $5.7 billion of debt, but also warned that it might file for bankruptcy if it could not achieve its aim.

CIT Group Inc., the 101-year-old commercial lender, said that it would do its best to restructure its debts, but would likely file bankruptcy petition in case of failure of its exchange offer. It has been seeking a cut of at least $5.7 billion of debt to put its economic health on track and to avoid collapse.

Beleaguered CIT Group Inc., which so far could neither succeed in winning FDIC's Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program nor in obtaining supplementary aid from government, is now trying to carve out a plan to convince its customers and investors.

The CIT Group is vexed that customers may drag down its credit lines in case they lose confidence in the Group.