Citigroup Reportedly Lost More Than $150 Mln On Forex Trading

(RTTNews) - Citigroup Inc. (C) lost more than $150 million after the Swiss central bank's decision to let the franc trade freely against the euro, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with matter.

The report said that the losses occurred on the New York-based bank's trading desks and were n't tied to its relationships with FXCM Inc. (FXCM) and other retail trading platforms. Citigroup's head of European investor sales, foreign exchange and local markets, Alex Jackson, left the firm this week.

Deutsche Bank AG (DB) and Barclays Plc (BCS, BARC.L) also incurred losses after the Swiss National Bank scrapped its three-year-old policy of capping its currency against the euro. Deutsche Bank lost $150 million and Barclays less than $100 million.

On Thursday, FXCM had said that it may be in breach of some regulatory capital requirements, as a result of debit balances. The company announced due to unprecedented volatility in EUR/CHF pair after the Swiss National Bank announcement Thursday morning, clients experienced significant losses, generated negative equity balances owed to FXCM of approximately $225 million.