Citi's Statement on the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program

We strongly disagree with how The New York Times characterized how we are helping clients across Citi. The parameters of the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program as written by Congress and signed into law meant that a range of clients -- retail, commercial and the private bank -- were eligible. Each business supporting these clients worked separately on Paycheck Protection Program loans for its customers and there was no preferential treatment.

Businesses with a smaller set of eligible clients were able to process applications manually. For our Retail Small Business banking customers, we worked around the clock and engaged fintech partners to build a new digital portal so we could process a higher volume of applications as quickly as possible.

To date, Citi has funded 6,573 loans totaling $1.1 billion. Nearly 6,100, or 93%, went to small business clients in our retail banking business. 470 loans went to commercial banking clients and a total of five private banking clients received loans for businesses. Completed applications were submitted to the SBA in the order in which they were received and no segment was prioritized over another.

When program funding was exhausted, we continued to process applications in the event additional program funding was approved. We are pleased that additional funding is expected and we're ready to continue helping small business owners get the funding they need to keep their employees on the payroll.