Citigroup Inc., the U.S. lender that gets the most revenue from overseas markets, announced plans to exit consumer banking in 11 markets as Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat seeks to simplify the firm and boost returns, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The sale of the businesses, a majority of which already are under way, are expected to be completed by the end of next year, the bank said yesterday. The units will be moved into the lender’s collection of unwanted assets for reporting purposes in the first quarter of 2015. With today’s announcement, New York-based Citigroup will exit consumer banking in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Japan, Guam, the Czech Republic, Egypt and Hungary, as well as the consumer-finance business in Korea.
