Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. rose in Germany and Japan after the Wall Street Journal reported that the biggest U.S. bank is seeking as much as $10 billion from foreign investors as mortgage-related losses deepen.
Merrill Lynch & Co., the largest brokerage, also is in talks with investors and may get $3 billion to $4 billion, the Journal said earlier today, without citing any sources. Citigroup has already received about $7.5 billion from Abu Dhabi and Merrill said last month that it's raising as much as $6.2 billion from Singapore's Temasek Holdings Pte. and New York-based money manager Davis Selected Advisors LP.
UBS, the biggest Swiss bank, replenished its capital last month with 13 billion Swiss francs ($11.6 billion) from the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. and an unidentified Middle Eastern investor by selling them bonds that convert into shares. Bear Stearns, the No. 5 U.S. securities firm by market value, moved to shore up investor support in October by selling a stake to China's government-controlled Citic Securities Co.Citigroup may receive additional funds from Singapore's GIC, the Journal reported. GIC was an investor in Old Lane LP, the hedge fund company founded by Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit. Jennifer Lewis, a spokeswoman for GIC, said the company can only comment on ``transactions that GIC has done.'' The Journal said the investments from overseas may attract scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers.
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