Will Vikram Pandit sell Citi Global Transaction Services? On Sunday night the U.S. Treasury, FDIC and Federal Reserve jointly bailed out Citigroup for up to $320 billion, and though the banking titan has already swapped its mutual funds to Legg Mason, it still dips into the '40 Act space via fund services from CGTS. And though a possible sale of Smith Barney has gathered a bit more attention, reporters are beginning to wonder if CGTS might be on the block, too.

(In a related move, Citi also sold mutual fund research specialist Financial Research Corporation last week to strategic consultant Mercatus for an undisclosed sum [see MFWire, November 21, 2008].)

Even before this weekend's bailout announcement, as Citi's stock fell below $4 last week, the AP's Madlen Read and the Sarasota, Florida Herald Tribune both report Citi Global Transaction Services as a 'sales opportunity' (alongside Smith Barney) as Citi seeks to raise cash, fire-sale style. And while Pandit himself is widely reported as having specifically refuted the Smith Barney sale rumor, no mention of CGTS comes up.

None of the reports mentions any possible buyers for the unit (which includes Citi's Fund Services, which in turn includes the former fund services part of Bisys), but it seems reasonable to expect interest from at least of some of their fund services competition: ALPS, BNY Mellon, DST, JPMorgan, PNC and SEI. 

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