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Financial Education
Knowledge is your greatest asset. SM
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Highlights
Citigroup Financial Education Program
 
Highlights for September 2004
 
NATIONAL
 
Financial Education Council
  • September 22nd in Long Island City, Dara Duguay, Director of the Office of Financial Education, convened the first meeting of the Financial Education Council, made up of representatives from each of Citigroup’s businesses in the US and abroad. The group will meet quarterly to share resources and information and to promote initiatives to their businesses.
  • The meeting focused on the strategy of the Office of Financial Education, a discussion of the various financial education programs and initiatives within each business, a demonstration of the FE website, an update on employee training as well as a discussion of new business initiatives, including a possible Citigroup book.
National Council on Economic Education
  • September 30th in Little Rock, Daria Sheehan, Vice President of the Citigroup Foundation, attended the NCEE Annual Conference and announced a $795,000 grant from the Citigroup Foundation to produce an innovative new video/DVD wealth-building series.
  • “What Everyone Needs to Know about Building Wealth” will be a six-part documentary-style series marketed to both students and adults that will be released in the fall of 2005. The NCEE will arrange teacher-training workshops in 15 cities, and will offer it to youth-development organizations as well as adult education programs.
  • Attendees included educators and the NCEE Network of Affiliates and University Centers.
  • In Fall 2005, when the program is ready, the NCEE will organize a detailed product launch, including a national press conference and local events where the training is to take place.
FINANCIAL EDUCATION TRAINING
 
Region 4 School District in Queens, NY
  • September 9th in Queens, Stacey Sechrest, Deputy of the Office of Financial Education, trained principals and administrators from the Region 4 school district in Queens on Citigroup’s financial education curriculum for grades K-8.
  • Earlier this year, Citigroup instructors trained 73 Assistant Principals from the Region 4 school district in Queens on the financial education curriculum for grades K-8. The goal is to have the Citibank Financial Education program incorporated into the Social Studies curriculum in Region 4 schools this fall.
San Francisco Non-Profit Organizations
  • September 16th in San Francisco, Citibank conducted a Train-the-Trainer session using the Citigroup financial education curriculum for non-profit organizations in San Francisco and Citibank employees. Los Angeles Family Housing
    • September 20th in North Hollywood, Citibank employee volunteers conducted financial education classes at Los Angeles Family Housing, a non-profit organization that provides housing and support services to homeless and low-income people.
    • To date, four sessions have been conducted for approximately 30 attendees. Going forward, biweekly classes will be conducted over a three-month period. Using the Citigroup Financial Education curriculum, Citibank employee volunteers will lead workshops on basic banking services, introduction to financial services, saving and investing and credit.
    • Citibank participants included: Paola Lobato, Financial Center Manager, Rashi Kallur, Community Relations Officer for the Greater Southern California Region and Francis Astilla, a Bank at Work Specialist.
    INTERNATIONAL
     
    Banks In Action Competitions
    • September 6th-10th, the Banks in Action Competitions launched in Uruguay, Panama and the Dominican Republic. Banks in Action teaches high school students about the principles of the banking industry. Using computer simulation, teams of students make decisions to attract deposits and borrowers, set interest rates, and invest in marketing and R&D to reduce operational costs.
    • Citibank employee volunteers provide background on the banking industry to enable students to make sound decisions and also support JA's personal finance, entrepreneurship and international trade programs that develop students' understanding of business, the economy and personal financial management. Citigroup Malaysia-University of Malaya Banking Seminar Series
      • September 9th in Kuala Lumpur, Piyush Gupta, Citigroup Malaysia CEO, and Dr. Hashim Yaacob, University of Malaysia Vice Chancellor, launched the Citigroup-University of Malaya Banking Seminar Series, which teaches students about the financial services industry. The program is supported by a grant from the Citigroup Foundation.
      • Jointly organized by Citigroup Malaysia and the University of Malaya, the Citigroup-University of Malaya Banking Seminar Series features 12 topics on banking and finance, including consumer banking, corporate and investment banking, consumer and corporate loans, risk management, corporate finance and treasury. The senior management team from both Citigroup’s corporate and consumer businesses will present the seminar topics over two semesters.
      • The Citigroup University lecture series programs involving Citigroup business heads was one of the first, and remains one of the most popular education initiatives in Asia. First established in Taiwan in 1998, the program now spans across six universities in Asia.
      2nd Annual Citigroup Junior Bankers’ Congress
      • September 22 – 25 in Manila, Citigroup Philippines and the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX)), a non-profit organization that supports programs in various fields of financial and business management, sponsored the 2nd Annual Citigroup Junior Bankers’ Congress, a 3- day workshop for the top banking students in the Philippines.
      • The Citigroup Junior Bankers’ Congress brought together some of the best and brightest university students majoring in finance or finance-related courses selected from over 50 Philippine colleges and universities competing annually in a nationwide financial quiz. Thirty students representing the top 6 winning teams from the Intercollegiate Finance Competition gained exposure to practical banking in the form of lectures, case studies and interactive exercises. The program was funded by a grant from the Citigroup Foundation.
      • Twelve members of the Senior Management team from the Corporate and Consumer Banks as well as a Director from Global Markets participated as volunteer lecturers for the program. Lectures focused on the different aspects of banking such as Treasury & Derivatives, Managing Operational Risk, Consumer Banking, Cards, Investment Banking, Corporate Finance and the domestic capital market, Governance and Compliance, as well as a session on Citigroup & the Community.
      • Citigroup is the first bank in the Philippines to support a program for high potential finance students. A participant from the 2003 Congress was hired as a Financial Analyst by Citigroup Business Services Asia.
      Junior Achievement Kazakhstan
      • September 24th in Kazakhstan, Daniel Connelly, Citigroup Country Officer for Kazakhstan, announced a $20,000 Citigroup Foundation financial education grant to Junior Achievement (JA Kazakhstan). The announcement was made as part of Citigroup’s celebration of its 10th anniversary in Kazakhstan.
      • JA Kazakhstan is a non-profit interregional organization and the grant from the Citigroup Foundation will be used to support educational programs that promote financial education for young people in the country. Over the past 10 years JA has assisted more than 200,000 local students through a range of educational programs.
      Junior Achievement Bulgaria
      • September 28th in Sofia, Citigroup Bulgaria, in partnership with Junior Achievement Bulgaria and in cooperation with the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, announced the launch of the “Banks Access” Financial Education Program, designed to teach basic banking skills to high school students in 10 Bulgarian cities. The program is supported by a $12,500 grant from the Citigroup Foundation that will provide teaching materials to more than 400 students in 15 high schools across Bulgaria, and will give them access to modern finance training methods.
      • The goal of the one-year project is to help students understand basic banking skills and to develop real-life business acumen under the guidance of volunteer consultants from the Citigroup team and other professionals from the Bulgarian banking and finance community. Through group work, case studies, lectures and other educational activities, students will come to understand general financial literacy, the economics of doing business in Bulgaria and will discuss the role of corporate finance in the global economy.
      • This project complements Junior Achievement’s Young Entrepreneurial Spirit (YES) initiative, under USAID’s Global Development Alliance, and will assist JA Bulgaria in their plan to reach at least one out of every five schools in Bulgaria by the end of the 2005 school year.
      First Women's Financial Education Summit in Asia
      • September 27th in Hong Kong, Citigroup and INSEAD, a leading global business school, announced plans to hold the first regional conference on financial education for women. The conference is being managed by The Financial Times and is funded by a grant from the Citigroup Foundation.
      • The one-day interactive forum, to be held in Hong Kong on Tuesday, November 2, 2004, is designed to promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas to expand financial education for women in Asia Pacific. The Summit will bring together NGOs and foundations that support women, financial literacy, and microfinance; academic and government institutions that are currently addressing financial illiteracy issues; corporate, charitable and other organizations with financial advisory capabilities that could be involved in promoting financial education in the region; and professional, business and financial women's associations.
      • The Summit will gather over 150 speakers and guests from 11 Asia Pacific countries to identify the major issues and to establish financial education goals for some major populations segments, as well as to highlight possible solutions.
      • Sallie Krawcheck, Citigroup’s Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy, will be a featured speaker.
      Citibank Academy
      • September 19th in Dubai, Citibank announced the launch of the Citibank Academy, which will be dedicated to training and developing UAE national talent. The announcement came during the Academy’s graduation of 24 local students who enrolled in a rigorous 3-month intensive program during which they received a mix of focused academic and practical training. All graduates will receive job offers from Citibank.
      • The Academy started its activities in July with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Citibank and The National Human Resource Development & Employment Authority (TANMIA). According to the MOU, 70 high school and university-level UAE nationals will be trained at the Academy in the fields of banking, finance, credit, leadership, sales, teamwork, management and customer service. Upon successful graduation, all of the students will be offered jobs at the bank.
      • The Citibank Academy is part of a series of training and financial literacy initiatives that have been initiated by the bank in conjunction with top academic centers in the UAE.
      • Prominent Arabic newspapers in the UAE, Al Bayan and Al Khaleej, carried the announcement.