Office address: 388 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10013
Website: citigroup.com
Year established: 1812
Company type: banking
Employees: 229,000+ (global)
Expertise: investment banking, capital markets and advisory, securities services and custody, wealth and private banking, asset management and alternatives, treasury and trade solutions, foreign exchange and derivatives, corporate and commercial lending
Parent company: N/A
Key people: Jane Fraser (CEO), Nadir Darrah (chief auditor), Sunil Garg (head of NA), Mark Mason (CFO), Anand Selvakesari (COO), Andy Sieg (head of wealth), Sara Wechter (CHRO)
Financing status: shareholder-owned company
Citigroup is a major bank based in New York that serves companies, governments, and investors. It runs trading, capital markets, and investment banking businesses across 94 markets worldwide. Citi moves nearly $5 trillion daily, while managing wealth for institutional and US personal clients.
Citigroup's origins began in 1812 after City Bank of New York was chartered to help the city rival older financial centers. The charter followed a long political battle involving merchants aligned with President James Madison and supporters of Vice President George Clinton.
Samuel Osgood became the first president, and Clinton's allies held almost half the board seats. That small New York bank later evolved over 200 years into the institution now known as Citi.
The bank opened a branch in Panama in 1904 at the US government's request and then expanded further. The National City Company sold bonds to ordinary investors, which helped fund companies and governments beyond Wall Street.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the bank built a broad New York branch network. It helped customers through the Great Depression and World War II, when women made up 43 percent of its almost 10,000 employees.
After 1945, the bank backed European rebuilding, financed major transport projects and expanded into the Middle East and Africa. In the 1960s and 1970s, it launched negotiable CDs, grew consumer banking and introduced ATMs for 24‑hour access.
From the 1980s, Citi expanded wealth and private banking services, including Citigold in Hong Kong. In 1998, a major merger created Citigroup, which later managed through the 2007–2008 crisis and reshaped its business mix.
It also supported the International Paralympic Committee through global sport partnerships. In 2021, Jane Fraser became Citi's CEO.
Citi has recently renewed its focus on investment banking under Viswas "Vis" Raghavan as head of banking. Since his arrival, the firm has hired at least 10 senior JPMorgan deal‑makers to strengthen M&A, equity capital markets, and technology coverage. This supports Jane Fraser's broader restructuring plans.
At the same time, Citigroup is pushing for growth in China as cross‑border activity increases. It has trimmed some consumer and technology roles, yet remains focused on Chinese companies expanding overseas and international clients. It's also pursuing a securities license and building on its existing capital markets permissions.
Citi offers a wide range of investment solutions that combine global reach and institutional‑grade platforms:
Citigroup also supports clients through its liquidity, risk, and cross‑border solutions that link investing to daily operations. Its global network and platforms help institutions and wealthy clients manage complex portfolios across markets.
Citigroup says that it aims to be a merit‑based workplace where people feel included and engaged. The bank says this culture supports its vision, expressed through these core fundamentals:
According to Citigroup, the firm offers benefits that support personal, professional and financial well‑being. Global opportunities, flexible work, and other resources help employees thrive in daily life:
Citigroup also has a $1 trillion sustainable finance goal through 2030 to support a low‑carbon, inclusive economy. It also targets net zero emissions by 2050 while helping clients with their own transitions.
Jane Fraser is chair of the board and CEO of Citigroup Inc. Fraser has spent more than 20 years at Citi in senior roles across its consumer and institutional businesses. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MA in economics from Cambridge University.
Citigroup's executive management team includes these key leaders and roles:
Together, these executives guide Citigroup's strategy, people, and day‑to‑day operations. Their decisions shape client service and long‑term shareholder returns.
Citigroup is using its global wealth arm to spot rich clients shifting assets from the US to the UK. Citi US stays central because those clients still need cross‑border advice, lending and portfolio management between American and British markets. This shift helps the bank grow international wealth revenue and refine its strategy for serving mobile, ultra‑wealthy families.
Elsewhere in Citi's ongoing transformation story, Citigroup hired outside counsel to review concerns about Andy Sieg, its head of Wealth. After the probe, the bank kept him in the role.
CEO Jane Fraser links that decision to strong results in the wealth unit and a broader turnaround that’s nearing its final phase. The bank also continues flexible work policies and sees clients more active in capital markets, which supports its long‑term wealth growth plans.
Stocks are still sliding following a Conference Board report that its March index of leading economic indicators has fallen 0.3%.
European markets dipped today as investors booked profits from last week's gains, while Asian stocks edged higher as the Chinese premier's positive assessment of the world's third-largest economy helped soothe nerves ahead of key earnings reports from leading U.S. companies.
Bank of America Corp. warned of worsening loan default problems Monday even as it posted a first-quarter profit of $2.81 billion. Investors concerned about the banking industry's health sent financial stocks and the overall market sharply lower.
Several Braintree, Mass.-based firms filed suit yesterday in federal district court charging a Citigroup subsidiary with fraudulently selling auction rate securities while the firm was under investigation.
European stock markets rose today, with Wall Street expected to open higher, following better than expected earnings from U.S. banking giant Citigroup Inc. and General Electric Corp.
Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Vikram Pandit put his credibility on the line last month when he wrote a memo saying the bank, after five consecutive quarters of losses, at last was profitable. It turns out that depends on which definition of “profit” is used.
JPMorgan Chase said today it earned $2.14 billion for the first quarter, thanks to rising deposits and lower borrowing rates. The profit was 10 percent lower than last year, but better than expected.
Michigan regulators say brokerage firms Citigroup Inc. and Wachovia Corp. have paid $2.37 million to the state after an investigation into the sale of auction rate securities.
Investors picked up consumer staples and industrials stocks today but remained cautious after getting more evidence that the economy is still struggling.
Stocks fell Tuesday after an unexpected drop in retail sales and producer prices tested a notion that the economy is starting to find its footing.
Shares of Lincoln National Corp. fell today as the insurer prepared to pay down $500 million in debt.
Wall Street has ended a tumultuous March on a high note, managing its first winning month this year and its best monthly performance in nearly seven years.
Bank stocks retreated today amid fresh concerns that financial firms will need additional capital to weather the ongoing credit crisis and recession.
The Federal Reserve's chairman and the secretary of the treasury are making a rare joint appearance at a congressional hearing, to take a scolding over AIG.
A full 20% of the hedging shops that blew up last year were feeder funds for Bernie’s Ponzi scheme that thought they were overseeing $16 billion. They weren’t.
