UPDATE 1-Citigroup regrets Aug euro govt bond sale-memo
[WTF is C doing? - Mish]
LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - U.S. financial services giant Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) regrets its controversial sale of around 11 billion euros ($13.5 billion) worth of euro-denominated government debt on Aug. 2, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
The memo, under the name of Tom Maheras, the firm's head of global capital markets, said that Citigroup did not fully consider the impact of this bond trade on the market.
"Unfortunately, we failed to fully consider its impact on our clients, other market participants, and our regulators," the memo said.
A spokeswoman for Citigroup declined to comment.
The UK's market watchdog the Financial Services Authority launched an investigation into the transaction last month and other European regulators have been looking into the trade.
The inquiry centres around Citigroup's sale of around 11 billion euros worth of euro-denominated government debt in the space of minutes on Aug. 2.
Traders at rival banks said Citigroup sold the securities quickly, causing them to fall in value, and bought many back soon afterwards to make a profit, which they estimated at anywhere from 10 million to 30 million euros.
The memo said that Citigroup had not met its own standards.
"We did not meet our standards in this instance and, as a result, we regret having executed this transaction," it said.
Separately, the Japanese Securities Exchange Surveillance Commission said on Tuesday that Citigroup had violated rules on the placement of securities and called for an administrative penalty on the bank.
reuters.com |
