...some mixed reporting at the link now. Does this make any sense to anyone?
As of Saturday afternoon, the general consensus between officials from Citi and government officials from the US Treasury department and US Federal Reserve is that the government will not takeover Citigroup in the way it took control of AIG—by lending the firm massive amounts of money and in return assuming a huge equity position.
Government officials fear taking over Citigroup would create a precedent: Unlike AIG, Citigroup's balance sheet is relatively healthy, with relatively strong levels of capital particularly compared to most of its competitors.
Even better precedent would be to give a failing company free money!