The U.S. government will boost its equity stake in Citigroup Inc to as much as 36 percent, bolstering the bank’s capital base in the latest emergency effort to save the ailing banking giant, Reuters reported.

The government will convert up to $25 billion in preferred shares to common stock in its third attempt to prop up Citigroup in the past five months. Existing shareholders will see their ownership of the bank fall as low as 26 percent. The government stake is now close to 8 percent.

While the latest rescue does not inject more money into Citigroup, it gives the government more of a voting stake and far greater influence over the bank’s operations, short of outright nationalization.

“The government is the new boss,” said Mike Holland, the founder of money manager Holland & Co. in New York. “Every major decision is something that is not going to come out of Park Avenue, but is going to come from Washington, D.C.”

Citigroup in October and November received $45 billion of taxpayer money, as well as a government backstop to cap losses on $301 billion of toxic assets.

The agreement calls for Citigroup to offer to exchange common stock for up to $27.5 billion of its preferred shares at $3.25 per share. The government will match the exchange up to $25 billion, provided private investors do the same. Citigroup will halt dividends on preferred and common stock.

Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said senior executives “completely remain in charge” of day-to-day operations.

The bank will shake up its board and install a majority of new, independent directors. Five of the board’s 15 members are either not standing for re-election or will reach retirement age by Citigroup’s annual meeting in April.