Citigroup Inc at RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : The timing for a global bank to be with us today couldn't be better from what is going on in the market.

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : So maybe with your unique footprint, can you talk about the current macroeconomic environment that you guys are seeing in the US and globally? What are you hearing from clients, both companies, consumers, and so on?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : In fact, talking about the tariffs, do you have a sense of the potential impact and how you guys are viewing with -- like you said, it came out last night, and how you're trying to navigate through this kind of environment?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Yes. You bring up TTS and how successful you guys are in that business. And you mentioned you're in over 90 countries. Is there any countries that you need or would like to expand into? Or no, the table that you have is pretty good? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 04, 2025 / 6:20PM, C.N - Citigroup Inc at RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : That's an interesting point you just made because we all know about middle market here in this country and how big it is, granted the US is the largest economy. But is the middle market in other countries that you're operating in as vibrant as it is in this, or are they more of the multinational when you think about that?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Yes. One of the big setups coming into 2025 was obviously with the election and the changes in Washington from a regulatory front. And we know new heads of different agencies are going to be confirmed over some period of time. Can you share with us your guys' view of what you're hearing or seeing in the direction it's going? And then second, maybe also talk about the CCAR DFAST stress test for the transparency and how that might help Citigroup in that test too.

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Yes. No, that's very helpful. In the fourth quarter, you guys announced a sizable buyback, $20 billion. You also pointed out in the fourth-quarter earnings call doing about $1.5 billion per quarter in terms of the buyback. What holds you back from doing more? Or what are some of the things you guys are thinking about to maybe accelerate that or do even something in the future you see?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Right, absolutely. And coming back to the stress capital buffer comments, should we not get our hopes up that we'll see a lot of transparency this year, and it's more maybe next year that we'll get the transparency that we're all hoping for? And any sense on that?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Got it. We're two months into the quarter. Maybe if you could give us an update on how the quarter is progressing, capital markets, investment banking, other parts of the business that you'd like to call out as well?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Coming back to the M&A part, when you talk to the investment banking guys, is there any sectors in the economy that are more apt to have more M&A, whether it's industrials or healthcare or retail?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Shifting to the total year 2025, you guys have given us a guide on revenue, $83.5 billion to about $84.5 billion. What are the puts and takes on that as you see it now sitting here in March and with NII and so forth?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Yes. It's interesting, and you mentioned markets, and you talked about NII ex-markets. And FICC is one of your real strengths. Is that where the NII in markets is primarily driven from your FICC line of business, or is there other --

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Got it. The other focus point that you guys have had success with is controlling expenses.

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : You're welcome. And you've given us guidance that you could come in slightly less than the $53.8 billion. But simultaneously, you're investing in technology as well. What are some of the ins and outs of how you're growing the technology spend but keeping that total number down?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Got it, very good. Maybe coming back to credit, again, you mentioned what the cost of credit likely will be in the first quarter. What's the view as you go forward on credit quality, both in the consumer and the credit card side, branded cards versus the retail and commercial? You've obviously done well in commercial on the credit side. So what are you guys kind of thinking about as you think about credit in general?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Yes, very good. Maybe moving over to Mexico, any updates you want to provide on the process you're going through, obviously, with the IPO for Mexico?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Yes, and can you remind us -- obviously, it will be a partial IPO spin-off. You'll still have a large ownership stake in the subsidiary for a number of years. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 04, 2025 / 6:20PM, C.N - Citigroup Inc at RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : And there's no regulatory reasons to do it that way. It's just market conditions, and you're doing it that way.

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : So it could -- theoretically, it was really strong markets. It might be faster than that, if possible.

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Okay. If we could take a step back and talk about the progress that you've made since 2022 on improving the ROTCE for Citigroup, and now the targets that you have set for 2026 at 10% to 11%, where are we on that path?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Yes. Assuming that the regulatory environment comes in and not just for Citigroup, but for all the banks, the capital levels come down -- the required capital levels. We're not talking '04, '05 but just come down. Would that give you then more ammunition to hit this target or even exceed it if the capital that you have to carry won't be the 100 basis points that you want to carry over the required level? Does that -- how do you guys think about that going forward?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Yes. No, absolutely. That's great. We're running out of time here, Mark. But maybe just the final question is what are the main points you want investors to take away from this conversation as they're looking about your stock and the value of that stock?

Question: Gerard Cassidy - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Great. With that, we hit the red zone, so that means we're out of time. So please join me in a round of applause. Thank you Mark for coming.