花期集团的未来走向

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Be it Bulgaria or China, or Chile, or South Africa, the Citi name and red umbrella is easily recognizable and ranks right up there with other global brands like McDonald's and Coke.

Citigroup boasts nearly 200 million customers in more than 100 countries including here in the UK, where it not only has branches on the streets of London, but it employs thousands of people here in financial services at its Europe, Middle-East and Africa headquarters.

And those services are shrinking. Even before the bailout, Citigroup announced some 70,000 job cuts worldwide, many are expected to go in its tall tower to the east of London.

Their biggest presence in London is in investment banking. Now that by absolutely anybody's estimation is going to diminish radically. Canary Wharf is going to be a lot emptier in 2009.

Analysts don’t expect as much of a cutback in Asia where Citi has tough competitors in HSBC and Standard Chartered. Citi's third quarter revenue fell 7% in Asia compared to a 42% fall in North America, though its exposure to emerging markets, once a tenet of its massive growth strategy, could make things even worse at Citi if a global recession does take hold no matter another late Sunday night bailout helped European shares at least on Monday.

It helped because if Citigroup had gone bust, the one of world's largest banks, if not the biggest bank in the world, could really have caused devastation.

Citigroup likes to say it focuses on upscale customers outside the US. Though its rescue is being paid for by American taxpayers, its success or failure will affect taxpayers around the world since Citibank's plan is to still have 300,000 employees worldwide.

Jim Boulden, cnn London.

Canary Wharf is a large business and shopping development in London, located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, centred on the old West India Docks in the London Docklands.