Saturday, January 12, 2008

Alwaleed

Rudy's nonfriend wants some Citi.

Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., the U.S. bank facing an estimated $4.21 billion fourth-quarter loss, may get cash infusions from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and China's government to bolster its capital.

Citigroup, the largest U.S. lender, is seeking a total of $8 billion to $10 billion from investors including Alwaleed, who already owns almost 4 percent of its shares, and China Development Bank, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Chinese bank is likely to invest about $2 billion, the newspaper said.


Flashback:

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday the city would not accept a $10 million donation for disaster relief from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal after the prince suggested U.S. policies in the Middle East contributed to the September 11 attacks.

"I entirely reject that statement," Giuliani said. "There is no moral equivalent for this [terrorist] act. There is no justification for it. The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification for it when they slaughtered 4,000 or 5,000 innocent people."

Prince Alwaleed gave the mayor a check after a Thursday morning memorial service at Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center towers destroyed in the attacks.

The prince offered his condolences to the people of New York, but after the ceremony he released a statement suggesting the United States "must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack."