Citigroup Had ‘Modest Loss’ From Swiss Franc Move, CFO Says

(Bloomberg) — Citigroup Inc., the world’s biggest currencies dealer, suffered losses from last week’s surprise decision by the Swiss central bank to let the franc trade freely against the euro, Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said.

“We did see an unusually large move in the value of the franc in a very short period of time,” Gerspach said Friday on the New York-based bank’s fixed-income conference call with analysts. “We did have some positions and we did experience a modest loss.”

Citigroup lost more than $150 million on its trading desks, a person briefed on the matter said last week, after the franc soared as much as 41 percent versus the euro and climbed at least 15 percent against all of the roughly 150 currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

Gerspach said Citigroup has seen “good activity levels from our customers” since the central bank’s move.

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