Citigroup has finalised plans to convert the US Treasury's capital injection into ordinary shares, a move that gives the US government a big stake in the struggling banking group.
Citi said the conversion would affect a total of $58 billion in preferred shares, including $25 billion from the US government and other investments from the government of Singapore and others.
The conversion does not call for more government funds but helps shore up the capital position of Citi, once the world's biggest financial services firm, which has received $45 billion in bail-out funds from the government.
The move avoids a feared nationalisation of Citi but the conversion gives the US government effective control as the bank's largest shareholder.
