Citigroup pays $750,000 fine for analyst conflict

WASHINGTON: An industry regulator fined Citigroup Inc $725,000 for not disclosing conflicts of interest in the bank's research division.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Wednesday that Citigroup Global Markets failed to disclose the conflicts in reports that it published between January 2007 and March 2010.

FINRA, which is industry funded, said Citigroup was paid for services to some companies but did not disclose the relationships in research reports.

Ordinary investors often rely on such research reports when deciding whether to buy or sell stock in a company. So banks must disclose if they do business with a company in their reports.

Citigroup said in a statement that it began improving its disclosure process even before FINRA's inquiry began. The bank did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

Source: EconomicTimes