Citigroup’s long-planned sale of its Russian retail bank is stuck in legal limbo following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, raising the odds the US bank will have to wind down the operation, according to dealmakers and sanctions experts.
Plans to get rid of Citi’s retail business in Russia were set forth almost a year ago as part of chief executive Jane Fraser’s efforts to scale back the bank’s far-flung international consumer network.
But the number of potential buyers for the division has dwindled now that western countries including the US have sanctioned Moscow in response to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine. The situation risks pushing Citi closer to a costly writedown, dealmakers and sanctions experts said.