Citigroup to repay $20 billion in bailout money

NEW YORK — Citigroup said Monday it is repaying $20 billion in public bailout money, freeing the banking giant from the close scrutiny and pay restrictions that came with the rescue program. The government also will sell its one-third stake in the company.Paying back the government gives an immediate lift to Citigroup's reputation and will save the bank $1.7 billion a year in dividend payments, but it comes at a heavy cost. Raising the new capital will significantly dilute current shareholders' stake in the company, and Citi's shares fell more than 6 percent.By approving the repayment, the government is saying Citi is on strong enough financial footing to stand on its own. It's a far cry from the situation at the beginning of the year, when some analysts were saying Citi could fail completely and be taken over by the government."It gets rid of the stigma," FBR Capital Markets analyst Paul Miller said.Citigroup Inc. was among the hardest hit by the credit crisis and rising loan defaults, and received one of the largest bailouts of any bank during the financial crisis. The government gave Citi $45 billion in loans and agreed to protect losses on nearly $300 billion in risky investments.Freed from the bailout program, Citi will now turn its attention to shedding the rest of its troubled mortgage portfolio and other risky assets, which it had separated from its traditional banking business in January.At the same time, the bank is trying to build up those core businesses such as securities underwriting and institutional banking, where it faces heavy competition from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other banks that suffered less during the financial crisis. The bank also wants to build up its consumer banking business, which trails competitors like Bank of America Corp. in size.Miller said the repayment of TARP will have the most immediate effect on the institutional business, where Citi will no longer face compensation restrictions. Those pay constraints were keeping Citi from keeping top bankers who were being lured

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