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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (22137)	1/25/2005 1:09:04 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Update 1: Germany Considers Filing Citigroup Probe 01.25.2005, 10:28 AM German prosecutors said Tuesday they received a complaint from regulators against six Citigroup Inc. employees and were considering whether to launch a formal investigation. Regulators said earlier that they alerted prosecutors to possible illegal activity by Citigroup, the world's largest financial institution, during a large bond trade last year. "We have reason to suspect market manipulation took place in connection with Citigroup transactions last August," said Sabine Reimer, a spokeswoman for the BaFin regulatory agency. Prosecutors in Frankfurt were considering whether they had enough evidence to begin a formal investigation. BaFin opened an investigation in October into the early August transaction. Citigroup Global Markets sold some 11.8 billion euros ($15.67 billion) in European government bonds on 13 different trading platforms in 11 different markets, causing prices to fall across the board. The bank then bought back roughly 4 billion euros ($5.31 billion) in bonds at lower prices an hour later. In a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press, Citigroup said it would continue to cooperate with regulatory authorities. "We are disappointed that the BaFin has referred to the prosecutor the question of whether action should be brought against individuals involved in the ... matter," the company said. In October, Citigroup CEO Charles Prince told The Wall Street Journal the trading by the company's London desk wasn't illegal "as far as we can tell." But he called the trade "a completely knuckleheaded thing to do," the Journal reported. Citigroup shares rose 19 cents to $48.55 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. forbes.com