Citigroup Inc

Victor Menezes, Citigroup Inc.'s former head of emerging markets, may face a federal insider-trading lawsuit over a $29.8-million stock sale 18 days before the world's largest bank announced a $2.2-billion loss in Argentina. NASD, formerly known as the National Assn. of Securities Dealers, released documents last week saying Menezes, 55, had received in August a formal warning from the Securities and Exchange Commission about a possible suit. Menezes didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the Citigroup Inc. shareholder who came to the bank's rescue during the credit crisis of the early 1990s, might do so again now, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Saudi Arabian billionaire and the China Development Bank are expected to invest about $2 billion in Citigroup, one person said in the Journal report. However, the newspaper also said there was a chance the deal could fall apart.

Current and former chief executives of three major U.S. financial institutions hit by sub-prime mortgage fallout were asked Monday by a congressional committee to testify at a hearing next month on their pay and severance packages. A House panel invited Countrywide Financial Corp. CEO Angelo Mozilo, former Citigroup Inc. chief Charles Prince and Stanley O'Neal, former head of Merrill Lynch & Co., to appear Feb. 7.

Two consultants hired by Countrywide Financial Corp. raised concerns about Chairman Angelo R. Mozilo's lucrative pay package, but key recommendations were ignored and the company eventually hired a third advisor whose aim was to achieve "maximum opportunity" for Mozilo, documents show. The result was a pay contract that "was significantly more generous to Mr. Mozilo" than originally recommended, according to a report released by a congressional panel Thursday.

Citigroup Inc. has become the latest big bank to quell Wall Street's worries about a financial sector implosion, posting a second-quarter loss that, at $2.5 billion, was smaller than expected. Citi shares rose almost 8% on Friday and helped lift other financial stocks, having joined JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. in convincing investors that the prognosis for the sector, while gloomy, may not be as dire as feared. But it's hard to get too enthusiastic about clearing a low bar.

Citigroup Inc. today plans to announce a six-month program to reach out to 500,000 high-risk mortgage customers who are current on their payments but someday may require loan modifications to stay in their homes. The New York bank said it would focus on areas with high unemployment and where housing prices have fallen sharply, including California, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.

Many things that Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson has said about the credit crunch and financial markets have come back to haunt him. Now many investors appear to expect a U.S. rescue of Citigroup Inc. -- just one week after Paulson sought to assure the American people that the banking system has "been stabilized." Citigroup shares dived $1.69, or 26.4%, to $4.

The federal government rushed to the aid of faltering banking giant Citigroup Inc. late Sunday night, agreeing to invest $20 billion more and accept the lion's share of losses on more than $300 billion worth of the firm's troubled mortgage-backed assets. In the largest single rescue effort thus far in the current financial crisis, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Citigroup Inc. will close most of its Japanese consumer finance branches and suffer a $370-million fourth-quarter loss in that unit, hit by law changes that cut the maximum interest rates on loans. The largest U.S. bank will take a $40-million fourth-quarter charge, including costs to close 270 of its 320 branches there and 100 of 800 automated loan machines.

Executives at financial giant Citigroup Inc. are preparing to re-brand the company with a shorter name, "Citi," and a new logo without the signature red umbrella, according to a published report. The new name and look will be presented to Citigroup's board this week after a 14-month review of the bank's brand, the New York Times reported Monday, citing executives close to the process. The plan still could undergo changes before a rollout that could begin as early as next month, the report said.