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Reuters report; unconfirmed by Citi

Citi pushes to wrap up its 2020 regulatory orders, Reuters reports

Citigroup is trying to resolve the regulatory demands that have followed it since 2020 so it can concentrate on growth, according to two people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters. Citi says only regulators can lift the , and it will not speculate on when.

Source / event date: October 12, 2026; Reuters report citing two people familiar with the matter

The Financial Current · https://thefinancialcurrent.com/news/2026-10-12-citi-regulatory-orders-exit-push

Analysis

The orders are the formal record of what regulators found wrong at Citi in 2020: weak risk management, data governance and internal controls. Reuters' reporting describes a bank trying to prove the repairs are finished, with the sticking point being whether its own internal audit is rigorous enough for the Federal Reserve and the OCC to accept. The timeline comes from anonymous sources and could change, and nothing in the public record yet shows the orders being lifted.

What Reuters reported

Citigroup is seeking to rapidly resolve the regulatory demands that have dogged it since 2020, so that it can focus on growth, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters in a report published October 12, 2026. As recently as the summer, one of the people said, Citi was aiming to submit paperwork to regulators before the end of the year or in the first quarter of 2027. [1]

The plan described is to give the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) a comprehensive audit of the remediation work, prepared carefully enough that it does not hit approval delays, and then to wind down part of the bank's remediation structure. Reuters said that would set Citi on a path toward having the lifted. One of the people said an internal audit over the summer rejected a version of the work on data tracing, meaning the ability to follow the origin of aggregated accounts, which caused a brief delay. Reuters said Citi has never acknowledged an official timeline. [1]

Chief Executive Jane Fraser has said the bank is about 90% done with the regulatory work required under the orders, Reuters reported. Citi did not comment on its motivation. A Citi spokesman said the bank would not speculate about lifting the orders because that "remains solely at our regulators' discretion." The Fed declined to comment and the OCC did not respond to a request for comment, according to Reuters. [1]

How the orders began

The orders trace to October 7, 2020, when the Federal Reserve Board issued a cease-and-desist order to Citigroup Inc., the holding company, and the OCC issued a separate to its subsidiary Citibank, N.A. Both were issued with the companies' consent. The Fed's order said Citigroup had not adequately fixed longstanding enterprise-wide risk management and controls deficiencies, citing problems in data quality management, regulatory reporting, compliance risk management, capital planning and risk management. It required the board to submit oversight plans and a gap analysis within 120 days and to file quarterly progress reports. [2]

The OCC's order said the agency intended to begin cease-and-desist proceedings against Citibank for deficiencies in data governance, risk management and internal controls that it described as unsafe or unsound practices that contributed to violations of law or regulation. The order recites that Citibank consented through its board in the interest of cooperation and to avoid the costs of administrative and judicial proceedings. [3]

Reuters ties the episode to a botched $900 million transfer to creditors of cosmetics company Revlon, and reports that Citi was fined $400 million in 2020. Reuters also reports that in 2024 the OCC fined Citi again for delays in addressing the data and other problems and sought a plan showing what resources Citi would assign. The OCC lifted that 2024 amendment in December 2025, but the original remained in force, Reuters said. [1]

Why timing matters to Citi

Reuters said the orders have brought costly fines and distractions, and that Citi spent $3.3 billion on "transformation" work last year, according to filings. Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo told Reuters that an exit "would be seen as a validation of their restructuring process" and could attract a larger group of investors. A Bank of America analyst, Ebrahim Poonawala, wrote that Citi's wealth division shows the greatest room for improvement among its five core franchises; Reuters said it earned a 12.6% return in the first half of the year against a long-term goal of 20%. [1]

The two people said the wealth management and retail businesses could benefit from more scale, such as by adding branches or buying a wealth manager. Reuters noted that such expansion is not formally prohibited under the orders but gets closer regulatory scrutiny. Fraser told investors earlier this year that Citi is "only interested in and focused on organic growth," Reuters recalled. Tim Long, a former OCC deputy comptroller, told Reuters it would make sense for Citi to try to finish under the current administration to avoid a possible change in regulators and approach. [1]

Reuters said lifting the orders requires sign-off from the Fed and the OCC, including a vote by the Federal Reserve Board. Citi is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday, October 13, according to the same report. [1]

What remains uncertain

The submission timeline, the summer audit setback and the interest in expansion all come from two unnamed people, as reported by Reuters; this site has not found a second outlet reporting the same timeline. Citi has not confirmed a timeline and says only regulators can lift the orders. The Fed and OCC have not commented. The orders' public text is the 2020 version; later amendments and terminations are described here only as Reuters reported them.

Sources

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