Citigroup reporta pérdidas adicionales por US$58,000 millones

Tomando en cuenta la declaración de la analista Meredith Whitney hace poco más de un mes, de que Citigroup no tenía capital para continuar sus operaciones, este anuncio debería ser el último clavo en el ataúd para el banco más grande de EU... Pero claro, siempre está el dinero público para rescatar negocios privados en el "libre mercado".

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. will take over seven troubled investment funds and assume $58 billion of debt to avoid forced asset sales that would further erode confidence in capital markets. Moody's Investors Service lowered the bank's credit ratings.

The biggest U.S. bank by assets will rescue the so-called structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, taking responsibility for their $49 billion of assets, the New York-based company said in a statement late yesterday.

Citigroup follows HSBC Holdings Plc, Societe Generale SA and WestLB AG in bailing out SIVs to avert fire sales of assets. The funds, which sell short-term debt and invest the proceeds in higher-yielding securities, have cut their holdings by more than 25 percent since August to $298 billion, according to Moody's. The decline may reduce the urgency for a bailout sponsored by the U.S. Treasury, Citigroup, Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.