Getting your player ready...
NEW YORK — The original financial supermarket is dead. Citigroup signaled the end of a decade-long experiment to create one-stop shopping for financial services — everything from consumer loans to investment banking — with Tuesday’s announcement that it was merging its Smith Barney brokerage into a joint venture with Morgan Stanley.
The deal, which gives Citi $2.7 billion in badly needed cash as it gives up control of Smith Barney, comes as the company struggles with the mortgage and credit crisis.
“I think within 12 months, Citigroup no longer exists,” said William Smith at Smith Asset Management, who owns Citi shares and has called for a breakup of the banking giant. The Associated Press
