Citigroup, at the behest of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, is to repay 114 Australian retail customers for the losses that they sustained from structured product investments that it offered to them between 2013 and 2017. It will also write to more than 1,000 customers who still hold those products, offering to allow them to drop them without paying any penalties.

ASIC investigated Citigroup’s sale and provision of general advice to customers regarding fixed-coupon structured products some time ago. These are complex, capital-at-risk products tied to the performance of reference shares. Although Citigroup considered its financial advisers to be providing general advice, ASIC suspected that some customers might have believed that it was providing personal advice. Its advisors asked customers about their personal circumstances, such as their appetites for risk, and provided customers who had no previous experience of investing in structured products with financial education about benefits and risks.

On 1 January 2018, as a result of ASIC’s investigation, Citigroup ceased selling structured products to retail clients while providing general advice. The banking giant is about to contact affected customers. The "remediation exercise" will be completed by 10 September and Citigroup will report to ASIC once it is over.

On its website, Citi Australia describes itself as "a global leader in credit cards and wealth management."