Citigroup: a culture and history of tax evasion By Lucy Komisar Contents Introduction The Private Bank The Offshore System In Their Own Words The Nassau Parking Scandal of 1975-1980: laundering profits Laundering Money for Pinochet Australia: tax evasion scheme of late 1980s Private Banking, the key to the system: Laundering money for Salinas, Bongo, the Abachas Argentine offshore bank scam of the 1990s, plus a secret videotape wherein a Citibanker offers to launder a "businessman's" profits Moving Russian money offshore in the 1990s Japan: helping clients evade taxes The Clearstream accounts: another secret system for moving money Today: Private Bank chief for Latin America and Europe America lauds secrecy List of Citigroup's offshore subsidiaries The curious Jersey network Unanswered questions Watch what they do, not what they say Sources & documentation This report describes and details a history of tax evasion by the world’s largest financial conglomerate, Citigroup.
Citing bank secrecy laws, Citigroup gave the U.S. Senate Investigations Subcommittee very limited information about Pinochet accounts and transactions involving its foreign affiliates in offshore venues such as the Bahamas or Switzerland and even Chile, Argentina and the UK.
Critical account of Citigroup’s 100- year history in Argentina, including its role in creating the country’s massive debt, its political influence, and its laundering of money for offshore shell banks.
[I]t allows various tax benefits and administrative benefits to the client ....” Citigroup opened 29 accounts or CDs for the Pinochets in the name of offshore corporations or trusts: five in the name of Meritor Investments; seven in the name of Trust MT4964N; and 17 in the name of Redwing Holdings.
Going back decades, it is a story of repeated, aggressive tax evasion for itself and clients, depriving governments and therefore citizens of huge amounts of funds and carried out with relative impunity. The Tax Justice Network nominates Citigroup for the Public Eye on Davos Award for excelling in socially irresponsible behavior by engaging in tax evasion and facilitating tax evasion by its clients.
General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report that Citigroup from 1991 through January 2000 had allowed more than $800 million in suspicious Russian funds to flow through 136 U.S. accounts tied to shell companies registered in Delaware.
A day later, the head of Citigroup’s global anti-money laundering group responded that an earlier global search had not turned up any Pinochet accounts at the bank.
Moving Russian money offshore in the 1990s Japan: helping clients evade taxes The Clearstream accounts: another secret system for moving money Today: Private Bank chief for Latin America and Europe America lauds secrecy List of Citigroup's offshore subsidiaries The curious Jersey network Unanswered questions Watch what they do, not what they say Sources & documentation This report describes and details a history of tax evasion by the world’s largest financial conglomerate, Citigroup.
Citigroup Avoided Paying $11.5 Billion In Taxes Thanks To Tax Shelters | HuffPost Impact
Over the next four years, Citigroup aggressively moved to make use of shelters in order to shield its earnings from U.S. taxation, doubling the amount of money it held offshore, according to a new report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit that advocates for corporate tax reform.
Wages & economic policyConfirmedAgainst
Citigroup offered to help an Argentine businessman evade Argentine taxes through a secret 2001 videotape
The full report, available at www.taxjustice.net or in advance (contact media@taxjustice.net, +44 (0)7712 655130), includes: • An examination of the puzzling ownership structure of a network of Citigroup subsidiaries in Jersey • Citigroup's unprecedented use of secret 'Clearstream' bank accounts - more than any other bank • Transcripts of a secret 2001 videotape showing a Citibank employee offering to help an Argentine businessman to evade Argentine taxes • Profit-laundering for Russian plutocrats in the late 1990s • Citigroup's provision of secretive banking facilities for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet; Omar Bongo, President of Gabon; Raúl Salinas, brother of the former President of Mexico, imprisoned in Mexico for murder; sons of General Sani Abacha, former military dictator of Nigeria; and two daughters of ex-President Suharto of Indonesia • An illegal foreign exchange scheme to move Citigroup profits to low-tax regimes through Nassau in the late 1970s.
The full report, available at www.taxjustice.net or in advance (contact media@taxjustice.net, +44 (0)7712 655130), includes: • An examination of the puzzling ownership structure of a network of Citigroup subsidiaries in Jersey • Citigroup's unprecedented use of secret 'Clearstream' bank accounts - more than any other bank • Transcripts of a secret 2001 videotape showing a Citibank employee offering to help an Argentine businessman to evade Argentine taxes • Profit-laundering for Russian plutocrats in the late 1990s • Citigroup's provision of secretive banking facilities for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet; Omar Bongo, President of Gabon; Raúl Salinas, brother of the former President of Mexico, imprisoned in Mexico for murder; sons of General Sani Abacha, former military dictator of Nigeria; and two daughters of ex-President Suharto of Indonesia • An illegal foreign exchange scheme to move Citigroup profits to low-tax regimes through Nassau in the late 1970s
Reproductive careConfirmedYou decide
Citigroup covered travel expenses for employees who travel out of state to get an abortion
Citigroup said it has started to cover travel expenses for employees who have to travel out of state to get an abortion.
(Reuters) -Citigroup Inc has started covering travel expenses for employees who go out of state for abortions because of newly enacted restrictions in Texas and other places, becoming the first major U.S. bank to make that commitment.
Citigroup Inc. is starting to cover travel costs for employees seeking abortion after several states including Texas implemented or proposed a near-total ban on abortions.
Citigroup to cover expenses for staff who require travel to receive an abortion | Fortune
Citigroup is covering travel costs for employees seeking an abortion as states limit access
Citigroup has started covering travel expenses for employees who go out of state for abortions because of newly enacted restrictions in Texas and other places, becoming the first major US bank to make that commitment.
Citi to cover travel for staffers seeking abortions in other states
Banking giant Citigroup on Thursday said it will provide employees who live in states with restrictive reproductive health care laws with travel benefits to provide access to abortion clinics across the nation.
Citigroup is starting to cover travel costs for employees seeking abortion after several states including Texas implemented or proposed a near total ban on abortions.
Citi to cover staff travel for abortions as states limit access
Citigroup Inc., Match Group Inc. and Bumble Inc. stand out among publicly traded companies for helping cover travel costs for employees seeking abortions after several U.S. states implemented or proposed a near-total ban on the procedure.
But Insider found that Citi had donated about $285,000 to state legislators who sponsored trigger laws in four states and to governors who signed them into law in five states.
Following the passage of the Texas abortion law known as Senate Bill 8, Citi said it would cover travel costs, such as airfare and lodging, for US employees who must travel out of state to receive abortion care. It is the only such commitment on Wall Street to date.
Citigroup added the travel benefit decried by Republicans to its workplace offerings after several states enacted restrictive reproductive health care laws.
Although many companies have stood in opposition to abortion restrictions, Citi is among the first mega-corporations to add travel expenses to their suite of reproductive health benefits.
After a number of US states passed laws severely restricting access to abortions, Citigroup this week said it is providing employees with travel benefits to facilitate access to abortion clinics.
Citi’s new policy covers employees’ expenses when traveling to seek an abortion, including plane tickets and hotels, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
We wish to express our deep concern about the US Senate’s contractual relationship with Citibank, a subsidiary of Citigroup, Inc. (Citi), following Citi’s recent announcement that it would pay for its employees to travel out of state for abortions.
(Citi), following Citi’s recent announcement that it would pay for its employees to travel out of state for abortions.
(Reuters) -Citigroup Inc has started covering travel expenses for employees who go out of state for abortions because of newly enacted restrictions in Texas and other places, becoming the first major U.S. bank to make that commitment.
But Insider found that Citi had donated about $285,000 to state legislators who sponsored trigger laws in four states and to governors who signed them into law in five states.
But Insider found that Citi had donated about $285,000 to state legislators who sponsored trigger laws in four states and to governors who signed them into law in five states.
The report highlighted 765 businesses with top scores of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index, representing a 28% increase since last year. Some of the businesses include major names like Apple, Citigroup Inc., General Motors, LinkedIn, and Macy’s, as well as regional brands like Hannaford Supermarkets, which operates stores in New England and New York.
For example, Citi had already begun recognizing its employees’ same-sex partners as dependents and beneficiaries years before the US ruled same-sex marriages legal in all 50 states in 2015.
Citigroup offers spousal equivalency benefits to employees' same-sex partners and has enacted non-discrimination policies that are inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
WASHINGTON - The Human Rights Campaign announced today that Citigroup, the world's largest financial institution, has become a platinum level sponsor of HRC's mission of securing equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.
Labor & working conditionsConfirmedAgainst
Jane Fraser orders 1000 job cuts
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser announced 1,000 job cuts and warned staff they are not graded on effort.
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, one of Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women—and the top female executive on Wall Street—is pushing ahead with about 1,000 job cuts and has warned staff that “we are not graded on effort” in a fiery internal memo setting a tougher tone for 2026.
Workplace equityConfirmedYou decide
Citi rolls back diversity equity inclusion initiatives
Citi rolled back its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives amid criticism.
This conviction has been necessary in high-stakes moments, as Citi was criticized by some for rolling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
According to Forbes, Citigroup joins Pepsi, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Disney, Deloitte, PBS, Google, Intel, PayPal, Chipotle, Comcast, General Motors, Amazon, Amtrak, The Smithsonian Institution, Target, Meta, and McDonald’s among other companies and government contracted entities to either walk back aspects of or end their prior commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion due to pressure from the Trump administration, many of whom committed multibillion-dollar pledges to assist in fostering diversity.
Corporate conductConfirmedAgainst
Citigroup ordered to pay $285 million in disgorgement, interest, and penalties
Citigroup was ordered to pay $285,000,000 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and penalties.
The Board of Governors hereby assesses Citigroup a civil money penalty in the amount of $8,600,000 to be paid upon the execution of this Consent Assessment Order by Fedwire transfer of immediately available funds to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, ABA No. 05 1000033, beneficiary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
WHEREAS, the conduct described above occurred while Citigroup and CitiFinancial were subject to the Consent Order, which required them to remedy deficiencies relating to mortgage servicing; WHEREAS, as a result of the conduct described above, Citigroup, through CitiFinancial, engaged in unsafe or unsound banking practices within the meaning of section 8 of the FDI Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. § 1818); WHEREAS, Citigroup and CitiFinancial have taken steps to address the deficiencies that were the subject of the Consent Order, replaced, where necessary, the affidavits potentially impacted by the conduct described above with properly executed and notarized affidavits, and taken steps to correct weaknesses related to the conduct described above; WHEREAS, as of September 15, 2017, Citigroup has completed the exit of the mortgage servicing business of CitiFinancial; WHEREAS, the Board of Governors issues this Order of Assessment of a Civil Money Penalty Issued Upon Consent (the “Consent Assessment Order”) against Citigroup; WHEREAS, Citigroup has consented to the assessment of a civil money penalty in the amount of $8,600,000 by the Board of Governors pursuant to sections 8(b)(3) and (i)(2)(B) of the FDI Act, as amended (12 U.S.C.
Corporate conductSettlementAgainst
Regulators fined Citigroup $400 million and ordered the firm to improve its risk management systems
Later that year, banking regulators fined Citigroup $400 million and ordered the firm to improve its risk management systems.
One such example was when, in 2020, Citigroup accidentally wired $900 million to a group of lenders at beauty company Revlon instead of an intended interest payment of just $7.8 million.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday said a Citigroup vice president was not entitled to a share of a $400 million civil fine that the bank agreed to pay in October 2020 over its risk management failures.
WHEREAS, an examination conducted by the Reserve Bank in 2023 regarding Citigroup’s remediation efforts related to the 2020 Order (the “2020 Order execution exam”) found that Citigroup’s progress in executing its plan to enhance its data quality management program under paragraph 4 of the 2020 Order, or toward the implementation of appropriate compensating controls has not been adequate;