More US regulators probe Citi, Banamex on laundering

Citigroup and its Banamex subsidiary have been questioned by additional US regulators over compliance with bank secrecy and anti-money laundering rules, Citi disclosed in a securities filing.
Citigroup and the US unit of its Mexican banking subsidiary Banamex face inquiries from the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the California Department of Business Oversight, according to the bank's annual report to US securities regulators on Wednesday.
That is on top of a previously disclosed grand jury probe into Citi and Banamex USA led by the US attorney of the state of Massachusetts, and a subpoena to Banamex USA from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
"Citigroup is cooperating fully with these inquiries," the third-largest US bank said in the filing.
The probes come on the heels of an executive shakeup at Mexico-based Grupo Financiero Banamex following a fraud scandal last year.
In February 2014, Citi took a charge of about $235 million, revising its 2013 annual results lower, saying it had discovered "significant" fraud on the books of oil contractor Oceanografia after having lent it $585 million through a Banamex unit.
After that, Citi fired a dozen employees involved with Banamex, including four managing directors. In October, the chief executive of Banamex resigned.
US and Mexican regulators, including the US Department of Justice, have opened probes into Banamex's dealings with Oceanografia, Citi has said.