On Monday, four government bank regulators entered the Citi headquarters in Buenos Aires to “monitor operations,” a central bank spokesperson told Reuters.
The move comes days after Argentina suspended the bank’s capital markets activities and stripped Citibank Argentina CEO Gabriel Ribisich of authority.
Citi has been caught in the middle of the country’s bitter battle with Singer and other hedge funds to whom Argentina owes $1.6 billion on defaulted debt they own.
After a US federal judge finally ordered Citi to fall in line with his plan to help Singer get his money from Argentina, the bank came upon a solution. Instead of appealing the order, it agreed to exit its Argentine custody business, which processes the Argentine bonds in question.
But Citi planned to keep all its other lines of business in Argentina, where it has a very large retail presence. The US federal court agreed to let Citi make two more quarterly payments while it exits the custody business and turns the bond business over to another bank.
That judgment didn’t sit well with Argentina. Its Economy Minister Axel Kiciloff called the move a “scam” that violated Argentine law.
nypost.com
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