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The article reports that a U.S. Congressional committee is investigating the lending practices of several banks that have received federal assistance from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Several banks including Citigroup Inc. and Bank of American Corp. have raised interest rates on credit-card customers, marketed high-interest loans, or engaged in other practices that have drawn consumer complaints.

The article reports on the business performance of banks in the U.S. Bank of America Corp., for one, reported a $5.2 billion boost from trading in the first quarter of 2009 which helped it avoid losses on bad loans. Also, Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have all reported a total of $27.1 billion in combined trading revenue or profits also during the quarter.

The article reports that Citigroup Inc. has defended the ongoing redesign of the executive floors of its New York headquarters. Citigroup says the project will generate savings in the next few years well in excess of the project costs. Citigroup is planning to do a reverse split of its shares, which would have the effect of boosting the stock value.

The article reports on the warning made by Citigroup Inc. chief financial officer (CFO) Gary Crittenden that the bank's financial performance for the second quarter of 2008 will still be affected by write-downs. He said that the bank will continue to experience losses on its exposure to leveraged loans and bond insurers. He added that the $15 billion write-downs in the first quarter have resulted to a $5.1 billion net loss. Analysts predicted that the bank still could face $10 billion in second quarter write-downs.

The article announces that Citigroup Inc. is planning to lay off an additional 2,000 personnel from its market and banking units. According to people in the know, the planned lay off will include senior investment banking officials. The planned lay off will bring to 6,000 the number of employees affected since the mortgage crisis began in 2007. The number also represents 10% of the market and banking unit's labor force. The lay offs are expected to happen by the end of March 2008.

The article reports on the stocks gain of Citigroup at the Nasdaq inspite of a first quarter loss of U.S. $5.11 billion. Citigroup share rose by 4.5 percent and the record earnings of Google has spawned a stock rally on Friday, April 18, 2008 which included other capital intensive firms like Caterpillar, Coca Cola and International Business Machines (IBM). David Kostin of Goldman Sachs, attribute the big earnings to overseas exposure.