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Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C)
November 30, 2006
Citigroup & Junior Achievement Announce Winners of “Banks in Action” Tournament
Brazil was the winner of this year’s “Banks in Action” Regional Tournament. The event was held in Panama City, Panama, from November 27th through the 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 its beginning in 1998. A total of 17 countries have their teams competing for the title. The young students of a public school from Brazil implemented the winning strategy and won a prize of US$ 1,000. The Paraguayan team came in second place and the Peruvian team came in third, winning US$ 500 and US$ 250, respectively. Representatives from the Citigroup Foundation, the Citigroup Country Officer for Panama, Francisco Conto, and the Executive Vice President from Junior Achievement, were present at the awards ceremony and offered the prizes to the winners.
”I am honored to be in Panama for this exciting competition, which brings together students from Latin America and provides them with the opportunity to network and learn about global competitiveness. JA Worldwide recognizes Citigroup’s support in making this competition possible,” said Jack E. Kosakowski, Executive Vice President & COO of JA Worldwide.
This is the first year that the competition has been held in Panama. It has previously been held in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. In addition to the competition, students from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela participated in activities designed to promote cultural exchange and learning among the participants.
“Since 1998 Banks in Action offers thousands of high school students throughout the Latin American Region the opportunity to put their talent into practice. These students are given the chance to learn about different countries and cultures, and this year we are proud to have students representing 17 countries of the Region participating in Panama,” added Lula Rodriguez, managing director of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Citigroup Latin America and the Caribbean.
In 2006, the Banks in Action Program reached over 25,000 students in Latin America and the Caribbean. Citigroup employees across the region volunteered their time throughout the year to help broaden the financial understanding of the students by teaching them to be entrepreneurs, to take risks, to strive for excellence and maintain high ethical standards.
The Banks in Action program is part of Citigroup and the Citigroup Foundation’s ten-year, $200 million commitment to financial education.
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Citigroup
Citigroup, the leading global financial services company has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney and Banamex. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com.
JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement)
JA Worldwide is the world's largest organization dedicated to educating young people about business, economics and entrepreneurship. Through a dedicated volunteer network, JA Worldwide provides in-school and after-school programs for students in grades K-12. JA Worldwide offers educational programs that focus on seven key content areas: business, citizenship, economics, entrepreneurship, ethics/character, financial literacy, and career development. Today, 145 offices reach four million students in the United States, with more than 2.6 million students served by operations in 97 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.