US Treasury to sell Citigroup stake in 2010
30 Mar 2010
The US Treasury Department plans to sell the government's 27 per cent stake in New York-based banking giant Citigroup Inc. this year
The Treasury will dispose of 7.7 billion common shares of Citigroup which it accrued during the the bank bailout programme in late 2008, the the Treasury Department said in a statement yesterday.
Analysts feel that once all the government's funds have been repaid, the banking group will no longer have to bow to pay tzar Ken Feinberg on compensation.
The Treasury's stake - the biggest of any common shareholder - had a market value of $33.72 billion as on Monday's closing price of $4.38, which will earn the American taxpayers a profit of about $8.72 billion.
The bank's shares have risen steadily in value in recent months, thanks to the improving economic environment, restructuring of the business.
The sale would finish the recovery of $45 billion given to Citigroup in October 2008 from the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP), of which $25 billion was converted into common shares at $3.25 each.