Japan orders temporarily halt at Citibank branch
( 2001-08-09 15:51 ) (7 )

Japan's top financial regulator on Thursday ordered the local branch of Citibank, a unit of Citigroup Inc, to suspend business at one division for about a week for breaking the law to help clients hide losses.

The Financial Services Agency (FSA) said it had told the Japanese branch to suspend operations from August 10 to 16 at its alternative investment strategies division, partly because of improper securities transactions on behalf of clients.

The division had offered financial products to about 40 clients that helped them to hide losses, the FSA said.

Citibank said the division involved had nine staff members, serving corporate and private institutional investors.

Regulators in Japan are taking an increasingly tough line against irregular transactions involving domestic and foreign financial firms to bolster investor confidence and discipline in Tokyo's financial markets.

The FSA has in recent months slapped penalties on a string of firms including units of Societe Generale and Goldman Sachs for violating government regulations.

A spokesman for the Citibank branch said the branch had notified the regulator after its own internal investigation found the division had violated Japanese regulations. The notification was filed before an FSA inspection, he said.

"None of these violations were wilful, although we regret their occurrence and any inconvenience they may have caused our customers," he said.

Citibank said it had taken measures to ensure the incidents will not happen again, including restructuring the division, new management oversight and a review of compliances policies and procedures.

Citigroup is the world's largest financial services firm.