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Citibank faces federal charges in Argentina

Sunday, 12 April 2015 9:57 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 12 April 2015 9:57 AM ]

SAN RAFAEL, CA - JANUARY 15: A sign stands in front of a Citibank branch office on January 15, 2015 in San Rafael, California. Citigroup Inc reported an 86 percent decline in fourth quarter earnings with net profits of $346 million, or 6 cents per share, compared to $2.60 billion, or 82 cents per share, one year ago. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

Manoel Giffoni
Press TV, Buenos Aires

The legal and operational status of the US banking giant Citibank are under close scrutiny by the Argentine monetary regulators after the US global financial entity struck an illegal deal with a group of highly speculative US creditors who filed a billion-dollar complaint against Argentina at a New York court and brought to a standstill all the payments of its foreign debt to the bondholders around the world.

In an unprecedented decision, the Government decided to take legal action against Citibank and bring it to court. Regulatory authorities say that the purpose of the complaint is to seek a ruling to nullify the agreement signed between Citibank and the US hedge funds at the New York court. Officials also slammed the undue interference of the US judiciary in the Argentine internal affairs

Financial regulators are reviewing whether Citibank has enough capital to continue its business in Argentina and the Central Bank is closely monitoring its operations. Possible measures include revoking the operating license of the bank.

After the Central Bank suspended Citibank from trading on the capital market and the stock exchange days ago, the US banking giant suffered another major setback in the Federal Court where a judge rejected its appeal to reinstate Gabriel Ribisich as its CEO. The Federal judge rejected Ribisich following his ouster in early April by the country's monetary authority for violating the laws governing the restructuring of Argentina's sovereign debt.

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