Citigroup says it has no plans to sell Banamex

NEW YORK - Citigroup Inc. denied reports Friday that it plans to sell its Mexican banking franchise amid pressure to shore up capital and streamline its operations.

A report in the Wall Street Journal on Friday said the New York bank is weighing whether to sell Grupo Financiero Banamex if its financial position deteriorates further. The report cited unnamed people familiar with the situation.

"Citi has no intention of selling Banamex," wrote spokesman Jon Diat in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Banamex is a strong performing business that is a very complementary fit within our long-term strategic growth plans."

After reporting a fourth-quarter loss of $8.29 billion, Citigroup last month reorganized into two entities, Citicorp and Citi Holdings. The first is focused on traditional banking around the world. The second holds the company's riskier assets and tougher-to-manage noncore ventures.

New York-based Citi also reached a deal to sell control of its Smith Barney brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley.

Chief Executive Vikram Pandit has indicated that the bank might sell control of its Citi Holdings businesses to other companies, as it did with Smith Barney.

Media reports surfaced earlier this week that Japan's three largest banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., are likely to compete for Nikko Cordial Securities Inc., a unit of Citi Holdings that the bank is expected to shed.

Citigroup, which has received $45 billion in capital from the federal government, is among the financial institutions hardest hit by the housing and financial crises.

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