Citigroup CEO Vikrum Pandit said Friday that he would like to keep the company together and does not wish to spin off its Smith Barney brokerage.

It's not preferable, but all major U.S. financial companies will eventually be under government control because the alternative is so much worse, Hugh Hendry, chief investment officer at hedge fund Eclectica Asset Management, said Friday.

A top investor in Barclays said on Thursday it would back the British bank's controversial fundraising plan despite voicing concerns.

British annual public borrowing is set to climb toward 120 billion pounds over the next two years, forcing the finance minister to announce plans for deferred tax rises and public spending curbs in his pre-budget report, the Financial Times reports.

Signs of distress in the global economy mounted , with Citigroup shares plunging on fears about its future, oil prices falling and the future of U.S. automakers hanging in the balance.

Australian banks are lining up to raise less costly funds in Europe now that the Australian
government has finalized a long-awaited wholesale funding guarantee, market sources said.

Australia is in a good position to defend itself against the global economic crisis despite a bleak report that forecasts a possible recession in 2009, according to the central bank chief.

Citigroup, trying to arrest the sharp slide in its stock price, may look for a possible merger partner or take other steps to raise cash, senior officials told CNBC.

New York City's securities companies in October shed 16,000 employees, when measured on a year-over-year basis, pushing the total workforce down to the level last seen September 2005, a state labor market analyst said on Thursday.

Citigroup , JPMorgan Chase and Capital One are among the final bidders for Chevy Chase Bank, a Bethesda, Maryland, lender, sources familiar with the matter said.

Citigroup's stock plunged below $5—a 13-year low—but the banking giant's troubles may be just beginning.

Wall Street's pain is rippling through U.S. small businesses, as bankers who once pulled in million-dollar bonuses lose their jobs and cut back spending on everything from parties to home improvements.

The money-losing finance company GMAC said on Thursday it has filed to become a bank, and its bonds surged as it joined the growing list of lenders making such a move in a bid to secure U.S. Treasury funds.

Saudi Arabian financier and investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud boosted his stake in Citigroup to 5%.

Citigroup's stock dive Wednesday likely hurt some prominent investors, such as American Funds and AllianceBernstein, that bought more of the stock in the last quarter.