Citibank, N. As of , Citibank is the third-largest bank in the United States in terms of assets. After the Panic of , Moses Taylor acquired control of the company. By , it was one of the largest banks in the United States. The bank became the largest bank in New York City following the Panic of Two years later, in , it had become the largest bank in the U. In , the bank helped finance the Panama Canal. National City at this time was the banker of Standard Oil , and the Chicago banking factions accused U.
Secretary of the Treasury L. Shaw of having too close of a relationship with National City and other Wall Street operators. Morgan and George Fisher Baker , in the Panic of Citibank then lobbied for the United States occupation of Haiti , which began in Many of Citi's present international offices are older; offices in London, Shanghai, Calcutta , and elsewhere were opened in and by the International Banking Corporation IBC , a company chartered to conduct banking business outside the U.
In , IBC became a wholly owned subsidiary and was subsequently merged into the bank. The same year, the bank evacuated all of its employees from Moscow and Petrograd as the Russian Civil War had begun, but also established a branch in Puerto Rico.
By , the bank had become the first U. Charles E. Mitchell , also called "Sunshine" Charlie Mitchell, was elected president in In , he was made chairman, a position he held until Under Mitchell, the bank expanded rapidly and by had branches in 23 countries outside the United States. The policies pursued by the bank under Mitchell's leadership are seen by many people as one of the prime causes of the stock market crash of , which led ultimately to the Great Depression. In , the Pecora Commission , a United States Senate committee, investigated Mitchell for his part in tens of millions of dollars in losses, excessive pay, and tax avoidance, later leading to his resignation.
Senator Carter Glass said of him, "Mitchell, more than any 50 men, is responsible for this stock crash. On December 24, , its headquarters in Buenos Aires , Argentina, were blown up by the Italian anarchist Severino Di Giovanni , in the frame of the international campaign supporting Sacco and Vanzetti. In and , branches in Germany and Japan closed. In , James Stillman Rockefeller was elected president and then chairman in , serving until Stillman was a direct descendant of the Rockefeller family through the William Rockefeller the brother of John D.
