Ex-Citigroup CFO pays $100,000 to settle SEC sub-prime charge

The former CFO of Citigroup has paid $100,000 (£64,000) to settle SEC charges alleging misleading statements in an SEC filing relating to the company's exposure to sub-prime mortgage related assets.

Gary Crittenden paid the settlement, without admitting or denying the allegations, after the SEC charged him, and former head of investor relations Arthur Tildesley Jr., with making misleading statements in an SEC filing. Citigroup was charged with misleading investors about its exposure to sub-prime mortgage-related assets.

The financial services business paid $75m to settle its charge, while Tildesley Jr. paid $80,000.

“Even as late as fall 2007, as the mortgage market was rapidly deteriorating, Citigroup boasted of superior risk management skills in reducing its subprime exposure to approximately $13 billion. In fact, billions more in CDO and other sub-prime exposure sat on its books undisclosed to investors,” said Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s division of enforcement.

“The rules of financial disclosure are simple – if you choose to speak, speak in full and not in half-truths.”

The SEC alleged that Crittenden and Tildesley Jr. were “repeatedly” provided with information about the full extent of Citigroup's sub-prime exposure. In approving SEC disclosures, they caused its filings to mislead investors.