NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Citi today announced that it hired women-owned firms as lead managers of a $2.5 billion bond issuance on behalf of Citibank, N.A. The transaction illustrates Citi’s deep, long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion, and to helping women, minority and veteran-owned businesses grow and succeed.

In the deal, which priced on March 13, Citi hired seven women-owned broker-dealers to assist in the distribution of the bonds to investors. The firms included C.L. King & Associates; Capital Institutional Services, Inc.; Lebenthal & Co., LLC; MFR Securities, Inc.; Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co., L.L.C.; Telsey Advisory Group; and Tigress Financial Partners LLC.

“We are honored to work with these firms, which provided exceptional support and execution for the issuance,” said James Forese, President of Citi and Head of Citi’s Institutional Clients Group. “This transaction clearly illustrates Citi’s strong commitment to diversity and to providing opportunities for women-owned firms.”

Through the March 13 deal, Citibank, N.A. issued $1.5 billion in 2-year fixed-rate senior notes and $1 billion in 2-year floating-rate senior notes. This transaction marks the first offering from Citibank, N.A. since 2009 and the first under the recently announced bank note program. Investors responded positively to the deal, which follows a similar offering in March of 2016, when Citi worked exclusively with women-owned firms to syndicate a $1.5 billion bond offering on behalf of Citigroup Inc.

“MFR Securities appreciates the opportunity to work with Citi and these outstanding firms,” said Maria Fiorini Ramirez, Owner of MFR Securities, Inc. “By highlighting the strength of women-owned businesses, Citi is playing a vital role in promoting diversity in the capital markets and well beyond.”

"We are proud to be part of this exciting transaction," said Alexandra Lebenthal, CEO of Lebenthal & Co. "Through its commitment to work with women-owned businesses, Citi continues to demonstrate that it is a firm that understands the importance of women to this economy."

Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides 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, transaction services, and wealth management.

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