No plan to split Citigroup, CFO assures investors

NEW YORK - Citigroup Inc. Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden said yesterday that there are no plans to split the company because of credit-related problems and that its capital levels remain strong. Crittenden, speaking on a conference call with fixed-income investors, told investors that Citi managers "have no intention to split up the various elements of the bank" and that "it's not something we focus on at all." He said Citi had doubled its stockpile of cash and easy-to-sell securities to about $65 billion at the end of last month compared with $24 billion a year earlier. Citigroup employs about 6,000 people in Maryland, the bulk of those at the Baltimore headquarters of its consumer finance division, CitiFinancial, and a credit card processing center in Hagerstown. Crittenden also said Citi will be able to handle any... [read full story]