Citi to expand Russia retreat beyond consumer banking exit

Citigroup, the U.S. bank with the largest presence in Russia, will broaden its withdrawal beyond previously announced plans to dispose of consumer operations there.

Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

“We have now decided to expand the scope of that exit process to include other lines of business and continue to reduce our remaining operations and exposure,” Edward Skyler, executive vice president of global public affairs, said in a statement Monday. “Due to the nature of banking and financial services operations, this decision will take time to execute."

The financial giant said last week that it was assessing operations in the country after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine caused Russia’s economy to become disconnected from the global financial system. Skyler said Monday that Citigroup will stop soliciting any new business or clients in the country, while providing assistance to multinational corporations unwinding their operations there.

Citigroup has roughly 3,000 employees in Russia. The bank said last month it had about $9.8 billion of loans, assets and other exposure tied to Russia, local companies and their counterparties, as well as to the Bank of Russia, as of the end of 2021.

New York-based Citigroup announced last year it would exit retail banking operations in more than a dozen countries, including Russia, as part of its efforts to simplify its business. A sale of that unit has stalled in recent weeks, making the prospects of a wind-down more likely. The company said Monday it would continue to manage existing regulatory commitments and obligations to depositors in Russia.

Citigroup joins Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase and other major corporations in the U.S. and globally in pulling business from Russia. Deutsche Bank reversed course late last week and announced a pullback, after JPMorgan said it’s currently engaging in limited activities in the country and Goldman Sachs announced plans to close its operations there.

Citigroup has long been the bank large multinational companies turn to for help managing and banking subsidiaries in more than 100 countries. In Russia, the bank has roughly 600 clients of its global subsidiaries group.

McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are among companies that have said they’ll halt business operations in the nation as the death toll rises in Ukraine and millions of refugees flee.