A former executive from Citi’s wealth management division reportedly said that she was fired in response to flagging regulatory and compliance risks regarding the opening of an account linked to US President Donald Trump.
A former managing director in Citigroup’s wealth management division said she was fired for identifying “several risk-management deficiencies”, according to a lawsuit filed anonymously in a Brooklyn federal court this week under the pseudonym Jane Doe.
A separate Financial Times report citing unnamed sources said that a redacted portion of the lawsuit claims that the ex-Citi executive had raised some of the concerns regarding US President Donald Trump as a potential client. The bank also allegedly considered a request to open a numbered account, which would have restricted internal access to client identity.
“As with the other complaint filed by this plaintiff’s attorney against Citi, this suit has absolutely zero merit and we’ll demonstrate that through the legal process,” said Citi in a statement, while declining to comment on whether an account was finally opened for Trump.
After Trump commenced his second term in January 2025, Citi revised its code of conduct to state that it “does not discriminate on the basis of political affiliation” amid widespread accusations about the “debanking” of American politicians. Last month, Citi CEO Jane Fraser was one of 17 US business leaders that joined Trump in his second state visit to China since November 2017.
