Citigroup’s wealth management results were hit by a $244 million after-tax charge for costs related to the closing of its private banking re...

Citigroup’s wealth management results were hit by a $244 million after-tax charge for costs related to the closing of its private banking results in Japan. Fourth quarter results show a net income fall of $129 million for Citigroup Private Bank. Smith Barney’s private client business, which is almost entirely domestic US private client led, recorded a 5 per cent fall in revenues on an annual basis to $226 million. Both Smith Barney’s private client business and Citigroup Private Bank now come under the newly formed Global Wealth Management umbrella, which was formed in November 2004 after the Japan debacle and under the leadership of Todd Thomson. Citigroup said the combined business has $1.4 trillion in customer balances and two million high net worth and affluent family relationships. This would make it one of the biggest wealth managers in the world Citigroup added in a statement accompanying the results that Smith Barney’s income numbers were hurt by falls in transactional revenues, increased marketing expenses and higher legal and compliance costs.