Citigroup looking for a bank to buy

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Citigroup Inc. is in the market for a U.S. bank less than a month after its bid to purchase Wachovia Corp's banking operations failed, sources said.

The name of Citigroup's target has yet to be disclosed, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

But, sources said it would be a regional bank that shares territory with Citigroup's retail banking operations, the Journal said.

That description fails to narrow the list of possibilities very much. Citigroup's retail banking is mostly highly concentrated in California, Texas and the Northeast.

Internationally, the firm operates in 106 countries on six continents, the Journal said.

But, Citigroup, which lost $20.25 billion in the past four quarters is, essentially, looking to create deeper pockets for itself, the report said. Deposits in the United States, the world's largest economy, are a reliable source of funds, the Journal said.