Citigroup is fined $400 million over ‘longstanding’ internal problems. (Published 2020) (2024)

Business|Citigroup is fined $400 million over ‘longstanding’ internal problems.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/07/business/citigroup-fine-risk-management.html

Advertisem*nt

SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT

Citigroup is fined $400 million over ‘longstanding’ internal problems. (Published 2020) (1)

Two months after one of its bankers accidentally sent nearly $1 billion to the wrong people, Citigroup agreed to pay $400 million to federal regulators over long-running problems keeping its daily operations under control.

The regulators — the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — said Wednesday that Citi had been engaging in “unsafe and unsound banking practices,” including in its programs to catch money launderers.

Citi had failed to fix problems that had been identified over a period of years, the regulators said. The O.C.C. called the bank’s deficiencies a “longstanding failure to establish effective risk management.”

Citibank is in the midst of a major transition — its chief executive, Michael Corbat, will step down early next year and be replaced by Jane Fraser, Citigroup’s president — and must now make improvements to satisfy both regulators. Among the necessary steps: making its executives’ roles clearer and creating a stronger link between their pay and their effective stewardship of the bank.

“We are disappointed that we have fallen short of our regulators’ expectations, and we are fully committed to thoroughly addressing the issues identified,” the bank said in a statement.

The regulators’ actions come amid an embarrassing scandal in which a Citi banker accidentally wired $900 million to a group of lenders to the beauty products maker Revlon. The bank is struggling to recoup the money; it sued the hedge fund Brigade Capital Management in federal court in Manhattan to force it to return $175 million, but Brigade is claiming it is entitled to keep the money.

The Revlon mishap is not Citi’s only recent error. The O.C.C. cited the bank’s violations of the Fair Housing Act in 2019 and the Flood Disaster Protection Act earlier this year, and attributed both to Citi’s inadequate risk management procedures.

The bank has also had trouble keeping track of the flow of illicit funds through its accounts. Over the past few years, it has grappled with problems in its Banamex USA unit, where prosecutors in 2017 said drug smugglers were using the bank to sneak dirty money into the United States from Mexico. Citi paid more than $97 million to settle a criminal inquiry into Banamex.

The $400 million penalty is being paid to the O.C.C., which is also requiring Citi to quickly create a new committee, comprised mostly of nonexecutive board members, to preside over a risk management revamp inside the bank.

Emily Flitter covers banking and Wall Street. Before joining The Times in 2017, she spent eight years at Reuters, writing about politics, financial crimes and the environment. More about Emily Flitter

Advertisem*nt

SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT

Citigroup is fined $400 million over ‘longstanding’ internal problems. (Published 2020) (2024)

FAQs

Citigroup is fined $400 million over ‘longstanding’ internal problems. (Published 2020)? ›

Citigroup is fined $400 million over 'longstanding' internal problems. Two months after one of its bankers accidentally sent nearly $1 billion to the wrong people, Citigroup agreed to pay $400 million to federal regulators over long-running problems keeping its daily operations under control.

Why was Citigroup fined? ›

"The CFPB found that Citi purposefully discriminated against applicants of Armenian descent, primarily based on the spelling of their last name,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. "Citi stereotyped Armenians as prone to crime and fraud. In reality, Citi illegally fabricated documents to cover up its discrimination.”

What was the main problem with Citibank? ›

Citi failed those exams, forcing it to do additional work, the source said. The regulatory notices come as the bank works through two 2020 consent orders, in which the Fed and the OCC directed the bank to fix longstanding and widespread deficiencies in its risk management, data governance and internal controls.

What is the controversy with Citigroup? ›

Citigroup is defending itself against a separate lawsuit that alleges workplace harassment in New York. Ardith Lindsey, a managing director, has accused Citi of downplaying her complaints about a senior equities banker who she said subjected her to years of abuse including sexual advances and death threats.

What is the fine for Citibank? ›

NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N) , opens new tab has agreed to pay $25.9 million to settle U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) charges it intentionally discriminated against credit card applicants who the bank identified as Armenian-American based on their last names.

Why is Citigroup failing? ›

One cause of Citi's problems is foreign loans to questionable governments. For example, Citigroup (C) admits to losing $880 million when they devalued the Argentine peso in the fourth quarter of 2023. Similarly, Citi has a $1.3 billion transfer risk associated with Russia and Argentina.

Why did Citigroup fail? ›

During its early years, Citigroup was embroiled in a series of high-profile scandals, including tainted transactions with Enron and WorldCom, biased research advice, corrupt allocations of shares in initial public offerings, predatory subprime lending, and market manipulation in foreign bond markets.

What is happening with Citibank? ›

The latest reshuffle finalizes Citi's new structure and is part of a broader goal to trim its global workforce of 239,000 by 20,000 over the next two years. Citi eliminated 1,500 managerial roles comprising 13% of its worldwide leaders, Fraser said as the company released its fourth-quarter results in January.

What was the Citibank hack? ›

The Citibank case marks the hacker community's first foray into big-money banking. In 1994, Russian hacker Vladimir Levin engineered a heist from Citibank, tricking the company's computers into distributing an estimated $10 million to him and his accomplices in several countries.

Is Citibank in trouble? ›

The embattled bank on Friday reported $1.8 billion in losses in the fourth quarter of 2023, while revenue fell 3% to $17.4 billion from last year, according to its latest financial filings. The layoffs could save the bank as much as $2.5 billion, Citigroup's presentation to investors shows.

What bank owns Citigroup? ›

Key Points. Citigroup is a global, publicly owned financial services company. Citigroup's largest shareholders include Vanguard, BlackRock, State Street Corporation, and Berkshire Hathaway.

Is Citi good or bad? ›

Employees in India have given Citi a rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 2,905 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most employees have a good working experience in India.

What are the Citibank lawsuits? ›

Citibank was sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James for allegedly failing to adequately protect customers from online banking scams and refusing to reimburse victims.

Does Citibank charge you? ›

There is a $5.00 Monthly Service Fee for Access Checking and a $15.00 Monthly Service Fee for Regular Checking. However, Citi will not charge you a Monthly Service Fee in the month of account opening or for the first three (3) full calendar months after account opening.

Does Citibank check your income? ›

Citibank will likely review your annual earnings and current employment information to determine if you have sufficient income to take on a personal loan. Many lenders, like Citibank, will evaluate your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, which measures your monthly income against your monthly debt obligations.

Why are people protesting Citibank? ›

In both cases, protesters called on the megabank to release plans winding down its financing of the fossil fuel industry and, crucially, to support a shareholder proposal at its April 26th shareholder meeting calling on Citi to cease its support for fossil fuel expansion.

How did the Citibank hack happen? ›

Levin, they say, used telecommunications systems, not the internet, to break into Citibank. He was able to intercept Citibank customers' phone calls and, as the customers authenticated their accounts by punching in their account numbers and PINs, obtain the information he needed to commit the fraudulent transactions.

Why did Citibank discriminate against Armenians? ›

Citi believed that Armenian Americans were prone to engage in criminal fraud,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a November 8 statement. “Citi often rejected these applicants outright. When Citi did not, the bank subjected those who may be of Armenian descent to additional scrutiny.”

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Cheryll Lueilwitz

Last Updated:

Views: 5584

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (74 voted)

Reviews: 89% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Cheryll Lueilwitz

Birthday: 1997-12-23

Address: 4653 O'Kon Hill, Lake Juanstad, AR 65469

Phone: +494124489301

Job: Marketing Representative

Hobby: Reading, Ice skating, Foraging, BASE jumping, Hiking, Skateboarding, Kayaking

Introduction: My name is Cheryll Lueilwitz, I am a sparkling, clean, super, lucky, joyous, outstanding, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.