Citigroup Announces Major Loss & New Investors

Citigroup, one of the largest financial institutions in the United States, said Tuesday it lost nearly $10 billion in the last few months of 2007.

The bank says its assets have shrunk by more than $18 billion because of huge investments in the troubled subprime mortgage sector.

The company says it will layoff another 4,200 employees to save money.

Citi is turning to outside investors to replenish capital, raising more than $14 billion from investors in Singapore, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

Meantime, Merrill Lynch, the largest brokerage, is suffering from similar problems and raising about $6.6 billion from investors in Japan, Kuwait and South Korea.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.