Citibank India is the Indian subsidiary of Citigroup. In March 2023, Citibank India's consumer banking division was sold to Axis Bank. After the sale, Citibank India continued to provide corporate and institutional banking services in the country.[1][2]

History

Citibank began operations in 1902 in Calcutta (Kolkata).[3][4]

In the late 1980s and 1990s, the division was one of the first banks to offer credit cards in India.[5]

In 1992, Citibank India was alleged to have played the leading role in allowing or facilitating the market manipulation that drove up prices of shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange during the 1992 Indian stock market scam.[6][7] After an investigation by the Federal Reserve, four officials at the bank resigned.[8] In September 1994, India fined the bank $16.29 million, the most of any bank of the 20 banks implicated in the scandal, which were fined a total of $47 million.[9][10]

In 2010, Pramit Jhaveri, became chief executive officer.[11]

In 2011, the company was fined Rs 25 lakh for violations of know your customer and anti–money laundering rules after a fraud of Rs 400-crore was perpetrated via one of the company's branches.[12] In 2019, Citibank paid Rs 4.5 crore to settle allegations by the Securities and Exchange Board of India of failure to adequately supervise an employee after the employee used the bank's infrastructure to forge bank statements of clients.[13]

Ashu Khullar was named chief executive officer in 2019.[14][11]

Sale of consumer banking division

In April 2021, Citigroup announced that it would exit the consumer banking operations in 13 countries including India. Citigroup announced that it will continue to serve larger clients and institutions in these countries.[15]

In 2022, Axis Bank announced the acquisition of Citibank India's consumer banking business for 12,325 crore ($1.6 billion).[16][17][18]

The acquisition was completed in March 2023 at a lower price of 11,603 crore ($1.41 billion) due to customer attrition and decrease in deposits.[19] All Citibank retail branches were rebranded as Axis Bank,[20] with Axis Bank absorbing 97 percent of Citibank India's workforce of 3,200 people.[21]

References

  1. ^ Rebello, Joel (15 April 2021). "Citigroup to focus on corporate and institutional banking business in India". The Economic Times. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  2. ^ Anand, Nupur. "Citi expects revenue from India corporate business to grow 10% a year". Reuters. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Citibank removes signboard from Kolkata office as part of rebranding exercise with Axis bank". Business Today. 25 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Citibank Removes Signboard From Iconic Kolkata Office From Where It Began India Operations". NDTV. 27 February 2023.
  5. ^ BALACHANDRAN, MANU; PANCHAL, SALIL (16 April 2021). "Citibank: Why one of the world's largest and most iconic banks is wrapping up its retail business in India". Forbes.
  6. ^ "CITIBANK DISPUTES ALLEGATIONS OF LINK TO INDIAN SCANDAL". The Journal of Commerce. Reuters. 17 November 1992.
  7. ^ "Citibank Denies India Fraud". The New York Times. Reuters. 18 November 1992.
  8. ^ "Fall From Grace At Citibank India". Bloomberg News. 31 January 1993.
  9. ^ "India Fines Citibank Most". The New York Times. Associated Press. 3 September 1994.
  10. ^ Hazarika, Sanjoy (1 August 1994). "India Imposes Fines on 10 Big Foreign Banks". The New York Times.
  11. ^ a b Saha, Manojit (8 March 2019). "Ashu Khullar named Citi India CEO". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X.
  12. ^ "Citibank fined Rs 25 lakh for fraud at Gurgaon branch". Business Line. 4 July 2011.
  13. ^ "Citibank settles case with Sebi for violation of portfolio managers' norms, pays Rs 4.5 cr". Firstpost. Press Trust of India. 2 April 2019.
  14. ^ Gopakumar, Gopika (8 March 2019). "Ashu Khullar appointed Citi India CEO in place of Pramit Jhaveri". Mint.
  15. ^ "Citigroup to exit consumer banking in 13 markets". BBC. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  16. ^ "Axis Bank-Citi deal likely to be completed by Q4FY23, says MD Amitabh Chaudhry". Moneycontrol.com. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Axis Banks proposed acquisition of Citibanks consumer businesses in India strongly positions it for accelerated premium market share growth". Axisbank.com. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Intimation of Regulation 51 (1) of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) 2015" (PDF). Online.citibank.co.in. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  19. ^ Nayak, Siddhi; Thomas, Chris (1 March 2023). "Axis Bank closes Citi India deal at lowered price of $1.41 bln". Reuters. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  20. ^ "'Citi India customers now served by Axis Bank': Important points Citi customers need to know". Business Today. 1 March 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  21. ^ Kayastha, Anshika (10 July 2023). "Axis Bank witnesses rise in attrition rate despite acquisition of Citibank India's consumer business". BusinessLine. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
No tags for this post.