Biz: Citi wants to play “good bank, bad bank”
- The good bank. After years of attempting to be a “financial supermarket,” Citi’s looking to move back to its old ways. On Jan. 22, the corporation plans to shed its current approach and slim up. They will focus primarily on corporate, investment and retail banking. The company recently agreed to merge its Smith Barney brokerage with Morgan Stanley.
- The bad bank. Nearly one-third of Citi’s assets, or $600 billion, would be separated from the rest of the company, to eventually be sold off. By segregating the bad assets, the company could find itself on stronger ground in the long run, some analysts say. Citi was one of the recipients of some federal bailout money. They got $25 billion in October and another $20 billion in November.