South Korea financial watchdog to probe Citigroup

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea's financial watchdog said it would launch a regular inspection of US financial giant Citigroup's private banking operations here by the end of this year.
Citigroup was last month ordered by Japanese regulators to close its private banking operations for violating banking laws. The bank was also banned from taking part in Japanese government bond auctions.
The Financial Supervisory Service, however, said its probe is not "directly linked" to Japanese sanctions.
"It's a regular probe in line with inspection schedules drawn up earlier this year," a spokesman said.
Citigroup has expanded operations in South Korea since it acquired KorAm Bank, the country's sixth largest lender, in April.
The US bank has also agreed to buy the non-memory division of South Korean microchip giant Hynix Semiconductor.