Citi in talks to hand big stake to U.S. government

Citigroup is in talks with federal officials which could see the U.S. government holding as much as 40 percent of the struggling lender's common stock, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website.
Citigroup executives are hoping the talks with U.S. federal officials will result in a stake closer to 25 percent, the Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the talks.
The report comes amid heavy selling of U.S. bank shares last week on fears the U.S. government may be forced to nationalize some ailing banks to stave off further damage to the economy.