No need to sell more assets, says Citi CFO

Citigroup Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Gary Crittenden said the bank will hold onto assets in emerging markets as it focuses on faster-growing regions after receiving a $20-billion government cash injection.

“Our emerging markets franchise is the core of the company,” Crittenden said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. “From a capital standpoint, there is no need for us to sell assets at this point, although we’ll continue to work away on non-strategic assets.”The company’s capital ratios are in the “top tier” among large US banks after it raised funds and pared assets by $300 billion, Crittenden said.

Citigroup received $306 billion of guarantees yesterday for troubled mortgages and toxic assets from the US government to stabilise the New York-based bank, which has $2 trillion of assets and operations in more than 100 countries.

HSBC Holdings Chairman Stephen Green said yesterday the London-based firm would consider buying the “right” assets from Citigroup in the event of a break-up or sale.Global banks, including Citigroup, Standard Chartered and HSBC, are putting more emphasis on emerging markets in Asia, West Asia and South America as the US and European economies sink into recession.

The US accounted for 45 per cent of Citigroup’s net revenue last year, down from 59 per cent in 2005, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The share coming from Asia almost doubled in the period, to 17.1 per cent. “It will be very painful if Citi jettisons any of its key businesses in Asia at this point of time,” said Emmanuel Daniel, president of The Asian Banker.