Citigroup was formed on October 8, 1998, following the merger of Citicorp, the bank holding company for Citibank, and Travelers to create the world's largest financial services organization.

[9][10] Serving a group of New York merchants, the bank opened for business on September 14 of that year,[citation needed] and Samuel Osgood was elected as the first President of the company.

[11] The company organically entered the leasing and credit card sectors, and its introduction of U.S. dollar-denominated certificates of deposit in London marked the first new negotiable instrument in the market since 1888.

[2] Two years later, Weill mastered the buyout of Primerica Financial Services—a conglomerate that had already bought life insurance company A L Williams as well as brokerage firm Smith Barney.

In September 1992, Travelers Insurance, which had suffered from poor real estate investments[2] and sustained significant losses in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew,[20] formed a strategic alliance with Primerica that would lead to its amalgamation into a single company in December 1993.

[41] The spin-off was prompted by the insurance unit's drag on Citigroup stock price because Travelers earnings were more seasonal and vulnerable to large disasters and events such as the September 11 attacks.

Starting in June 2006, Senior Vice President Richard M. Bowen III, the chief underwriter of Citigroup's Consumer Lending Group, began warning the board of directors about the extreme risks being taken on by the mortgage operation that could potentially result in massive losses.

[50] As the crisis began to unfold, Citigroup announced on April 11, 2007, that it would eliminate 17,000 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce, in a broad restructuring designed to cut costs and bolster its long underperforming stock.

[72] On January 16, 2009, Citigroup announced its intention to reorganize itself into two operating units: Citicorp for its retail and institutional client business, and Citi Holdings for its brokerage and asset management.

It consists of several business entities including remaining interests in local consumer lending such as OneMain Financial, divestitures such as Smith Barney, and a special asset pool.

Operating businesses include OneMain Financial ($10B), PrimeRe ($7B), MSSB JV ($8B) and Spain / Greece retail ($4B), less associated loan loss reserves.

[83][84][85] In June 2013, Citi sold its remaining 49% stake in Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management for $13.5 billion following an appraisal by Perella Weinberg.

[109] In February 2016, the company was subject to a $1.1 billion fraud lawsuit filed by lender Rabobank and other investors as a result of the bankruptcy of Oceanografia SA, a Mexican oil services firm.

[113] The spin-off of CCA created Napier Park Global Capital, a $6.8 billion hedge fund with more than 100 employees in New York and London and managed by Jim O'Brien and Jonathan Dorfman.

[135] In April 2021, Citi announced it would exit its consumer banking operations in 13 markets, including Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

[137] Citi will continue to operate its consumer banking businesses in the US, Canada, Europe and in only 4 other markets: Hong Kong, Singapore, London and the UAE across the entire APAC and EMEA regions.

[145] In late February 2025, the bank unintentionally transferred $81 trillion to the account of one of it's clients, meaning to send just $280, before reversing the issue 90 minutes later, technically making him the worlds first trillionaire.

[160] On March 23, 2005, the National Association of Securities Dealers, the former name of the American self-regulatory organization for broker-dealers, now known as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FInRA) announced total fines of $21.25 million against Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., American Express Financial Advisors and Chase Investment Services regarding suitability and supervisory violations of their mutual fund sales practices between January 2002 and July 2003.

FInRA found that Citigroup did not properly supervise a team of brokers located in Charlotte, N.C., who used misleading sales materials during dozens of seminars and meetings for hundreds of BellSouth employees.

[167][168] On February 9, 2012, it was announced that the five largest mortgage servicers (Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo) agreed to a historic settlement with the federal government and 49 states.

As a result of their assurances that toxic financial products were sound, Citigroup was able to expand its market share and increase profits" and that "the settlement did not absolve the bank or its employees from facing criminal charges.

[177][178][179][180] On February 5, 2002, Citigroup was sued for violating federal securities laws and misleading investors by issuing false information about Global Crossing's revenues and financial performance.

Six drivers and other economic measurements, such as income and savings rates were also studied and included, in what was described as "an ongoing [bio-]technological revolution; capitalist-friendly governments and tax regimes" both powered by and consumed by the wealthy;[200][201][202][203] the middle class was not its focus.

[204][205] In August 2008, Citigroup agreed to pay nearly $18 million in refunds and fines to settle accusations by California Attorney General Jerry Brown that it wrongly took funds from the accounts of credit card customers.

A three-year investigation found that Citigroup from 1992 to 2003 used an improper computerized "sweep" feature to move positive balances from card accounts into the bank's general fund, without telling cardholders.

Citigroup was criticized for failing to adequately supervise its traders and for not having systems in place to detect spoofing, which involves entering fake orders designed to fool others into thinking prices are poised to rise or fall.

[217] In June 2024, agents from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, citing recent investigations into the Sinaloa Cartel, said money launderers continually found ways to take advantage of Citibank's lax controls and oversight policies.

Hohlt responded that though mistakes were made in the earlier episode he'd never been investigated by any government agency and his experience gave him a reason to be back in the "operating room" as parties address the more recent crisis.

Since then, they have been a part of an enormously influential coterie of advisers"; Howard Wolfson, the former communications director for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and Mr. Bloomberg's re-election bid; and Gary Ginsberg, now at Time Warner and formerly at News Corporation.

The policy doesn't affect clients who offer credit cards backed by Citigroup or borrow money, use banking services, or raise capital through the company.