Citi seeks more than $60 billion in damages
Citi today announced it has filed a complaint against Wachovia
Corporation, Wells Fargo & Co, and the directors of both companies. In
the complaint brought on Saturday October 4th
and filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York today, Citi is
seeking more than $20 billion in compensatory damages and more than $40
billion in punitive damages from Wells Fargo for tortious interference
with Citi’s contract with Wachovia. Citi is
seeking relief from Wachovia for its bad faith breach of that contract.
The complaint is attached.
Citi commented: “Seven days ago, in the hours
before the markets opened, Citi agreed to the government’s
request to assist with a rescue of Wachovia after Wells Fargo walked
away from Wachovia. This was always a deal Citi wanted rather than one
we needed. We were and remain very excited about this transaction and
how it will benefit the clients and shareholders of Citi and Wachovia,
as well as help preserve the stability of the financial system. The
Citi/Wachovia transaction would have been signed and announced on
Friday, October 3rd if it had not been subverted
by the unlawful conduct of Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and their officers and
directors and outside advisors.”
On September 29th, Citi and Wachovia both announced an agreement-in
principle for Citi to acquire all of the banking subsidiaries of
Wachovia. At the time the Wachovia/Wells Fargo transaction was
announced, Citi was finalizing the agreements required to consummate its
FDIC-assisted open bank transaction with Wachovia. Citi has been
providing liquidity and market support to Wachovia since the day of the
announcement. Citi remains willing to enter into an agreement with
Wachovia which Citi believes would deliver powerful capabilities of the
two entities to their respective stakeholders.
Had an agreement between Citi and Wachovia not been reached on September
29, Wachovia would have failed the following day and the debt issued by
its holding company would have collapsed, with potentially devastating
implications for the stability and security of the financial markets.
Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200
million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries,
providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a
broad range of financial products and services, including consumer
banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities
brokerage, and wealth management.
Citi's major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica,
Smith Barney, Banamex, and Nikko. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com
or www.citi.com.
Citi
Media:
Christina Pretto, 212-559-9560
Shannon
Bell, 212-793-6206
Michael Hanretta, 212-559-9466
Investors:
Scott
Freidenrich, 212-559-2718
Fixed Income Investors:
Maurice
Raichelson, 212-559-5091
