Chief executive officer Jane Fraser indicated that underwriting state and local debt was, effectively, too big a drag on the bottom line, unable to compete with more lucrative lines of work. Citigroup’s departure is unlikely to have any immediate repercussions, since others will almost certainly fill the void, at least temporarily. As the US Federal Reserve’s rate hikes depressed debt sales, it continued to lose market share, sliding to the seventh-biggest this year. In 2022, it underwrote nearly US$27bil of long-term municipal bonds. The bank has also long been revered for its trading arm and its willingness to take risks during market dislocations.

Source: The Star December 18, 2023 06:03 UTC