Citigroup may limit withdrawals
Feb-21-2010

As of April 1, Citigroup may refuse its customers to withdraw money from their accounts and could require an advanced notice of seven days for withdrawals.
On Friday, Citigroup sent statements to customers all over the United States to inform them that they could be required to submit an advanced notice of seven days if they want to withdraw money from their bank accounts, according to the Business Insider.
Canada Free Press reports that the move will take effect as of April 1 of this year, "We reserve the right to require (7) days advance notice before permitting a withdrawal from all checking accounts. While we do not currently exercise this right and have not exercised it in the past, we are required by law to notify you of this change."
However, the Future of Capitalism reports that the policy only applies to the state of Texas and must have been a mistake to send out the letter nationwide. Citibank then released another statement and said it moved to the unlimited FDIC coverage in 2009 and had to reclassify their checking accounts "to allow for immediate withdrawals in order to ensure all customers qualified for the additional coverage."
The statement added that the Federal Reserve Reg D requires NOW accounts to reserve the right to require a notice of seven days to withdraw money and once again noted that Citigroup issued a warning to its customers.
Motley Fool questioned Citibank's latest clause and stated that maybe they're preparing for a run on the bank, or maybe an April fool's joke.
The Oversight Committee is holding a hearing Tuesday with Lentz, LaHood and Strickland. A Senate committee is planning a March 2 hearing.

Toyota has said it will create an outside review of company operations, do a better job of responding to customer complaints and improve communication with federal officials.

Separately, the government said Sunday it was already investigating reports of sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles when the nation's largest auto insurer shared complaints about the issue.

The Transportation Department released documents showing that in December 2003 it began investigating 39 complaints of sudden acceleration involving 2002-03 Toyota Camry sedans. That was about three months before State Farm shared with NHTSA complaints of sudden acceleration in 2003-04 Lexus ES300s and 2002-04 Camrys.

The document released by LaHood said the department had received allegations of 26 crashes and 4 injuries involving drivers complaining of their vehicles surging when backing up, pulling in and out of parking spaces and shifting gears.

Reports of deaths in the U.S. connected to sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles have surged in recent weeks, with the toll of deaths allegedly attributed to the problem reaching 34 since 2000, according to new consumer data gathered by the U.S. government.

Posted by jc at 10:38 PM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print