Citi's equities traders are probably immune to allegations of poor behaviour at this point
Citi's equities trading business has had a challenging time by some measures. First it was accused of impropriety by a female managing director last November, then more complaints emerged in March. Results to a culture survey were not shared. And then its equities traders were cited in a complaint from a woman at a brokerage firm.
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Throughout, Citi has strenuously denied any wrongdoing. Today's results suggests its traders are rewarding the bank's confidence in them.
As the chart below shows, it's been a strong year for equities sales and trading revenues at all US banks. But at Citi, the strength has been particularly pronounced.
In the first nine months of 2024, Citi generated nearly $4bn of equities markets revenues, higher than at any time since 2021. As equities revenues rose, Citi credited "momentum in prime, growth in equity derivatives and higher cash equity volumes." In prime alone, hedge fund balances were up 22%.
Citi has been hiring for its US equities business, and has allegedly been paying generously in the process. Traders there will expect to be paid. They may yet be disappointed: Citi is still cutting costs and has to contend with a new $136m fine for failing to fix its reporting failures.
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