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Financial Education
Knowledge is your greatest asset. SM
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Highlights
Citigroup Financial Education Program
 
Highlights November 2006
 
United States
 
Governor of Maryland Presents Award to Citigroup Maryland Leadership Council for its Continuous Support of Education
  • November 15, The Maryland Secretary of State and the Superintendent of the Maryland State Department of Education presented an award from Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., Governor of Maryland, to the Citigroup Maryland Leadership Council for its support of the Citigroup Schools that Work Institute and its commitment to improving the performance of Maryland's high school students.
  • Harry Goff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CitiFinancial, and Dave Lucchino, Director of CitiMortgage's Servicing Operations in Frederick, MD, accepted the award at a luncheon in Baltimore.
  • The Citigroup Schools that Work Institute trains teachers and principals in Maryland public high schools each year to collect and use data to improve students' performance and achievement. The Citigroup Maryland Leadership Council is comprised of chief executive officers of the Citigroup businesses in Maryland including CitiFinancial, CitiMortgage, Citibank, Citi Cards, Citicorp Trust Bank and Smith Barney.
  • Over the last six years, the Citigroup Maryland Leadership Council has committed $625,000 to support the effort.
Citigroup Financial Education Volunteers Facilitate Training Marathon
  • Florence KY- November 14, Citigroup in partnership with Boone County High School facilitated a 3.5 hour training marathon for the school’s entire class of sophomore students.
  • The 3.5 hour session covered financial literacy training on maintaining checking accounts, establishing and maintaining credit, budgeting, and short and long-term investing. Citigroup provided 18 volunteer facilitators to the school with 350 sophomore students participating in the event.
  • Kentucky is one of 14 states that currently require personal finance for high school graduation.
Greater Southern California Region
  • During the month of November, 10 Promodoras, Community Health Advocates, participated in Citigroup’s Financial Education Empowerment Program. The goal is for the Promodoras to receive Financial Education training and in turn each trains 100 Low to Moderate Income individuals.
Silicon Valley Region
  • November 18, Citigroup sponsored Financial Education Day, co-hosted with Assets for All Alliance, a membership organization of experienced professionals from the Individual Development Account (IDA) and asset-building fields.
  • Over 150 individuals who participated in Financial Education activities and seminars attended the event. Individuals and families also participated in IDAs and asset-building opportunities.
  • Citibank delivered a separate one-hour seminar on credit management.
U.S. Financial Education Training
  • To date, almost 5,300 employees and non-profit partner staff have undergone training to teach financial education using the Citigroup Financial Education Curriculum.
  • Nearly 3,150 people have participated in the online training since the April 2005 launch of the site.
EMEA
 
Russia: G8 conference on Improving Financial Literacy
  • November 29-30 Moscow, Dara Duguay, Director - Citigroup Office of Financial Education, spoke on a panel titled "Role of Stakeholders in Financial Education and Awareness Campaigns." The only other corporation on the agenda was VISA.
  • This conference included major stakeholders from the G8 countries in the NGO, government and academia arena. It was the first time that the G8 has addressed financial literacy as a conference topic.
  • Duguay spoke about Citigroup's Financial Education commitment and gave examples of FE programs supported in various regions around the world.
United Kingdom: Citigroup offering Financial Education at home
  • Citigroup in the U.K. launched the first of six pilot sessions on "An Introduction to Wealth Planning." The event was introduced by Michael Kirkwood; Citigroup Country Officer of the U.K. Mark Ackers from Citigroup Wealth Advisors presented to a full auditorium of 200 Citigroup employees, with another 104 employees listening on the telephone. The feedback on the first session was extremely positive, and the team is looking to make the process even better going forward.
  • The sessions will continue on a monthly basis through March 2007 and will cover a variety of topics, from buy-to-let property to estate planning. There will be the additional incentive of a presentation from a well-known television property expert in a special guest edition of the January session.
  • The team has designed a varied program for the first six sessions, but they are keen to hear about other topics that people would be interested in learning about. Based on the success of the first session, it is planned to continue with the monthly program for 2007 and beyond.
United Kingdom: Financially Speaking Competition
  • November 28, Citigroup UK hosted its fourth "Financially Speaking" competition. The Citigroup Foundation and Citigroup UK sponsored event, is the culminating part of the program, which combines financial education and public speaking skills.
  • "Financially Speaking" ran in 12 schools and touched over 1000 students from Lewisham, Tower Hamlets, and Southwark. Over 80 Citigroup employees volunteered in the last 5 months alone.
  • The material put forth for this program was adapted from the Citigroup Financial Education Curriculum. Topics include: Needs and Wants, Budgeting, Responsible Ways of Earning Money, The Cost of Cool and the Role of Banking.
Israel: Unistream
  • Josh Pezarker, Citigroup Israel, presented a Financial Education session to children of Unistream from the impoverished region of the GILBOA in the North of Israel. The session focused on financial reports i.e. Balance Sheet, P&L Report and Cash Flow. He explained the importance of each report and the business implications.
  • Unistream, a non-profit organization supported by the Citigroup Foundation, was founded to create a new cadre of business leaders from among promising youth from impoverished regions.
Turkey: Financial Capability Conference
  • On November 8th, Sara Reiner of Citigroup's Office of Financial Education, and Nevnihal Ciftci, Public Affairs, Citigroup Turkey, participated in a panel discussion at the first ever Consumer Financial Capability conference held in Turkey.
  • The event was sponsored by Visa Europe and was held at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. Reiner spoke about Citigroup's Financial Education program and global commitment, and Ciftci outlined Citigroup's current financial education initiatives in Turkey.
Turkey: Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey
  • By the end of November, 757 new children in 14 cities completed Financial Education at 42 education centers of Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV).
  • TEGV is one of the most reputable NGO's of the country. Since 2005, more than 4,000 children have been taught Financial Education with cooperation from Citigroup and TEGV.
Pakistan: Risk Management
  • A seminar on Introduction to Risk Management was made possible by a grant from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) for 30 MBA students from all across the country, including the frontier and Baluchistan provinces. The seminar is part of an overall Financial Education initiative to develop awareness on risk amongst future business leaders.
Latin America
 
Banks in Action Regional Tournament
  • The event was held in Panama City, Panama, from November 27th to 30th. Banks in Action is a business game in which the students assume the role of bankers and make banking decisions. They assume functions such as: attracting deposits and then making loans to borrowers, setting interest rates on the funds for short and long terms, deciding on how much spend on marketing to attract savers and borrowers to the bank, deciding how much to spend on research and development in order to lower the operation’s cost.
  • The 2006 Banks in Action Regional Tournament was the biggest since it’s beginning in 1998, involving a total of 17 countries. Throughout 2006, the Banks in Action Program reached over 25,000 students in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Asia Pacific
 
Korea: INSEAD 2006 Financial Education Summit Addresses Financial Illiteracy among Youth
  • The 2006 Citigroup-INSEAD Financial Education Summit was held in Seoul, Korea, November 9-10, 2006, and brought together over 250 regulators, educators, corporate and NGO representatives to discuss a wide range of topics related to financial education for children, teenagers and young adults. Many of the high-level and experienced speakers, moderators and delegates at the two-day Summit, themed "Financial Health for the Next Generation”, agreed that starting financial education from an early age and making financial education part of the core curriculum are some of the key steps that need to be taken in all countries.
  • Korea’s Vice Minister of Finance and Economy, Dong Soo Chin, gave the opening address and highlighted how financial literacy is a "21st century concept" of increasing importance and financial education needs to become a national priority. Keynote speaker, Madam Wu Xiaoling, Deputy Governor, People's Bank of China (PBOC) noted that financial education is a key factor in China's future economic development, and PBOC recognizes the need to instill positive money management values among young people in both urban and rural areas across China.
  • The 2006 Summit program featured 50 speakers and moderators from around the world, including Woo Cheol Lee, Deputy Governor, Financial Supervisory Service, Korea; Rusli Simanjuntak, Director of Bank Supervision, Bank Indonesia; Diana Crossan, Retirement Commissioner, Retirement Commission, New Zealand; Dan Iannicola Jr, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education, US Department of Treasury; Miles Larbey, Regional Commissioner, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC); Nicolas Blancher, Senior Economist, Monetary & Capital Markets Department, IMF; and Flore-Anne Messy, Directorate for Financial & Enterprise Affairs, OECD.
  • Citigroup speakers at the Summit included Ashok Vaswani, CEO, Citibank Asia Pacific; YK Ha, CEO, Citibank Korea; Michael Zink, Senior Executive Vice President, Corporate & Investment Banking Group, Citibank Korea; Betty DeVita, Senior Executive Vice President, Global Consumer Group, Citibank Korea; Dara Duguay, Director, Citigroup's Office of Financial Education; and Daria Sheehan, Senior Program Officer, Citigroup Foundation. For details about the Summit program and the speaker line-up, please visit: www.financialeducationsummit.org
Korea: Citibank reveals findings of "Teens and Money - Earn and Burn?" survey
  • In conjunction with the Citigroup-INSEAD Financial Education Summit held in Korea, November 9-10, Citibank shared the results of a survey that analyzed the attitudes of teenagers (aged 15-18) on money management and personal finance matters. The independent survey, “Teens and Money – Earn and Burn?” was conducted in Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong in October 2006 and drew 900 respondents (300 per market).
  • According to the survey, the respondents’ allowances are spent mainly on eating out/dining at fast food outlets and snacks (86%), going out or hanging out with friends (68%) and paying for clothing or shoes (67%). At 48% levels, Taiwanese teenagers spend considerably more on eating out (compared to 32% in Hong Kong and 27% in Korea).
  • Across the three markets, almost one-third admits that their current spending habits are a source of conflict with their parents, and almost half of the teenage respondents showed some concern about personal finances, as they are unsure that their parents would help them if faced with financial difficulties. Korean teenagers (39%) are notably more disposed to feel this way, vis-à-vis their Taiwan (27%) and Hong Kong (27%) peers.
  • The survey also indicates that there are significant opportunities for schools to help teenagers learn more about finances. More than six out of ten respondents across the three markets wished they knew more about managing money (64% in both Taiwan and Korea, and 61% in Hong Kong). For a majority of the respondents, topics such as paying for one’s education, setting financial goals, household budgeting and the proper use of credit are subjects that are rarely discussed within the families, and only 26% perceive that they are learning enough about personal finances in school.
Malaysia: Citigroup partners with UTAR to launch 2006 Student Banking Seminar Series
  • November 8, Piyush Gupta, CCO and CEO of Citibank Berhad, gave the inaugural lecture on "The Structure of the Banking Industry and Consumer Banking in Malaysia," to more than 300 business students at the launch of the Citigroup UTAR Banking Seminar Series.
  • Citigroup Malaysia and the Faculty of Accountancy and Management of University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) jointly run the program. It is fully funded by the Citigroup Foundation and is part of Citigroup Malaysia’s commitment to create opportunities for students to learn about the financial services industry and explore career opportunities in this sector.
  • Citigroup Malaysia first partnered the University Malaya for the Banking Seminar Series in 2004 through which more than 15 senior Citibankers have given talks. The new partnership with UTAR means that Citigroup is increasing its contribution to the development of young finance professionals in Malaysia.
Philippines: Citibank introduces the ABCs of credit
  • The smart use of a new credit card and the basics of credit are promoted in the "ABCs of Credit", a new financial education campaign introduced by Citibank Philippines in November 2006. Targeted at young professionals and first-time credit card holders, the campaign is timely given the upcoming holiday season and the rising number of card applications in the country.
  • To help people manage and spend responsibly within their means, Philippines Citibank has taken the initiative and developed and launched the ABCs of Credit. As well as a welcome pack of brochures, first-time Citibank credit card holders can also log on to Citibank's Use Credit Wisely website www.usecreditwisely.citibank.com.ph that has comprehensive credit information available in English and Filipino. To make it attractive and easy to understand, ‘youth-friendly’ language and everyday payment examples are used in the program collaterals.
Japan: Student City
  • November, 6 Citibank employees helped students from 4 schools participate in the Student City program. Student City is a program in cooperation with Japan’s Ministry of Education, Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward and Junior Achievement Japan, that helps elementary school 5th and 6th grade students learn about the realities of economic life through hands-on experience in a miniature city.
  • Students attend special classes on practical business and economics for five weeks before visiting Student City, and then participate in a full day’s events at the City, including classes and role-playing as Student City workers and consumers.