Treasury sells the last of its Citigroup shares

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JEREMY HOBSON: Taxpayers own a lot less of Citigroup, one of the banks that got the most bailout money during the financial crisis. The Treasury Department sold the last of its common shares yesterday.

And as Marketplace’s David Gura reports, the government came out on top.

DAVID GURA: The U.S. Government has effectively closed the book on one of the biggest parts of the Wall Street bailout. Last night, the government offloaded the last of its common shares of Citigroup stock.

Bank analyst Bert Ely says that’s good news.

BERT ELY: I think that the message is, while there are enormous reservations about the wisdom of the government having done it in the first place, at least it did not turn out to be a loser for taxpayers.

Hardly. In total the government will make $12 billion on its investment in Citigroup with this sale. It’s been a continuing process over the last few months. The Treasury Department has scaled back its ownership stake in several large banks, automakers, and other companies. After the sale, Citigroup can also say it’s moving on.

In Washington, I’m David Gura, for Marketplace.