Citi Bank1809 views

Big Citi

Citi Institutional Clients Group, one of the main units of global banking behemoth Citigroup Inc., offers a full range of investment banking services, including merger and acquisition advisory, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring advice, transaction services, and alternative investments. It operates through five main business units: global markets, global banking, global transaction services, Citi Capital Partners, and Citi Private Bank. With a history that dates to 1812, parent Citigroup Inc. was rebranded as simply “Citi” in 2007. Prior to its rebranding, Citi was revered as the world’s largest banking and financial services group, but the financial storm of 2008 and 2009 was not kind to this global giant, which saw billions of dollars wiped off its market value, laid off tens of thousands of employees, shed assets, and took $45 billion in assistance from the U.S. government. 

However, the firm rebounded, thanks in part to Vikram Pandit, then the firm’s CEO, who famously vowed to take a salary of just $1 until Citi regained profitability, which it did in the first quarter of 2009. A few years later, though, Pandit abruptly resigned from the firm amidst a disagreement with Citi’s board of directors. John Havens, Citi’s COO, also resigned. In Pandit’s place Michael Corbat took over as CEO. Before taking the top spot, Corbat had been serving as CEO of Citi’s Europe, Middle East and Africa operations. Today, Citi has over 200 million customer accounts in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions around the world and employs 251,000 people. For the first half of 2014, Citi ranked No. 3 in global debt and equity underwriting, and No. 4 in worldwide announced M&A deals.