Citi announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its broker-dealer and its investment advisory business to Insigneo.
“The sale of CIFS (Citi International Financial Services), a Puerto Rico-based broker-dealer, and Citi Asesores, an investment advisory firm in Uruguay’s free-trade zone, is subject to regulatory approvals. Citi will maintain all existing bank deposit relationships with wealth clients moving to Insigneo”, said the press release.
In addition, both firms have agreed to explore for Citi to offer banking services to Insigneo’s existing clients. “Citi’s strong presence in Puerto Rico and Uruguay, serving institutional clients, remains unchanged”, they added.
Negotiations, which took over 15 months, were finally completed, and regulatory approvals could be confirmed by the second quarter of 2022. According to industry sources, the sale involves 4.5 billion dollars of AUM.
“This sale allows us to simplify our wealth business. At the same time, we saw an opportunity to continue to provide our clients with best-in-class retail banking while they seamlessly continue to work locally with their investment professionals, who upon close will move to Insigneo, which offers a broad spectrum of investment products and wealth management capabilities”, said Scott Schroeder, Head of U.S. International Personal Bank at Citi.
Raúl Henríquez, Chairman and CEO of Insigneo, commented that they are “extremely happy” to incorporate CIFS and Citi Asesores into Insigneo Financial Group’s growing platform. “And we are pleased to continue our relationship with Citi as a banking services provider for our new clients”, he added.
Por Magdalena Martínez
Por Marcelo Soba