Citigroup Reshuffles Its Distressed Debt Group

Citigroup Inc. is reorganising the team that invests in distressed debt, the biggest U.S. bank by assets said Friday, according to The AP. "We have decided to restructure our Global Special Situations Group in order to maximise the significant opportunities

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Citigroup Inc. is reorganising the team that invests in distressed debt, the biggest U.S. bank by assets said Friday, according to The AP.

“We have decided to restructure our Global Special Situations Group in order to maximise the significant opportunities in the global distressed sector,” Citigroup said in a statement.

A person at Citigroup familiar with the changes said the business is being split into two segments. One will do customer-focused distressed sales and trading, and will be led by Carl Meyer. The other will be a private investment business led by John Peruzzi. Both Peruzzi and Meyer will report to Carey Lathrop, the head of global credit trading at Citi, the person said.

The person asked not to be identified by name because the person was not authorised to discuss the details of the restructuring.

Meanwhile, several members of the current team including Jeff Jacob and John Humphrey, who established the team about four years ago will be leaving Citigroup after the transition occurs to start an independent venture, the person said.

After writing down the value of its assets by about $39 billion since last summer, Citigroup posted losses in the fourth quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of this year. The bank is expected by many analysts to report another loss for the second quarter, after its chief financial officer warned last week of “substantial” write-downs on structured debt.

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