Citi sells Russian loan portfolio to local bank

Citi announced on Friday (28) that it sold a portfolio of personal loans denominated in rubles to Uralsib, a commercial bank in Russia, as part of its withdrawal from the country.

The Wall Street giant has also agreed to transfer credit card transactions, subject to customer consent. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

“These transactions are part of Citi’s efforts to reduce its operations and exposure to Russia,” the bank said in a press release.

The US bank most exposed to Russia, Citi has been reducing its exposure in the domestic market since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. At the end of September, that figure was US$7.9 billion, compared to US$9.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Last August, the New York-based conglomerate announced that it would end its retail banking operations in the country and that it would try to sell loan portfolios.

More recently, in parallel with the announcement of its third quarter results, it further announced that it would still discontinue almost all of its institutional banking services in Russia by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

Citi President Jane Fraser reinforced Citi’s intention to reduce its presence in Russia in a conference call with analysts and investors about two weeks ago.

“Our only operations in Russia will be those necessary to meet our remaining legal and regulatory obligations,” he said at the time.

According to her, Citi’s presence in Russia has supported multinationals in the analysis of the decision to leave the country and in relation to their payrolls. However, the bank will close its doors in the region once and for all.

“Our intention is to end our operation in the country”, he reinforced.

In announcing the sale of credit portfolios on Friday, Citi said it did not plan to transfer employees or branches as a result of these transactions.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as legal advisor to the bank.