From a Citigroup press release, dated 1 May 2009 (this stuff is like shooting fish in a barrel):
New York – Citi (NYSE: C) today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its Japanese domestic securities business, conducted principally through Nikko Cordial Securities Inc., to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation ... In connection with the transaction, Citi and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (hereafter SMFG) have agreed to enter into an alliance agreement to provide SMFG with access to Citi's global networks in corporate and investment banking, including M&A and sales and trading services, while continuing the longstanding partnership between Citi and Nikko Cordial Securities in originating and distributing capital markets products to investors in Japan and globally.
Look carefully: they agreed to enter into an agreement.
We might also wonder, in the first line, about the "definitive agreement" ... I look at a dictionary (remember those?) and this agreement does not appear to be any more definitive than any other contract to sell some part of your business to someone else who does not yet realize that it's hopeless. The release concludes:
Nikko Citi Holdings' CEO Doug Peterson said, "Citi has a proud history of delivering our global capabilities to clients in Japan, and we will continue to have a large local presence here, with market-leading investment banking and corporate banking platforms, the largest retail banking presence among foreign-owned banks and one of Japan's top premium credit card businesses."
Citi's Institutional Clients Group advised Citi on this transaction.
The purpose of a press release is to entice some reporter into doing an article. Therefore, you try to include things that people might find interesting. Is there anyone, outside of the Institutional Clients Group, who gives a flip that they advised?
As for Mr. Peterson's quote, I think we all realize by now that "market-leading" means "not actually going out of business this month". And, without spending more time on this than it deserves, I've got to guess that "banking platform" is short for "bank".
Does anyone even proofread any of this?
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