Late last year, Citigroup sold $7.5bn of mandatory convertible securities to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and issued more than $4bn of trust preferred securities. In the first quarter this year, the bank sold more than $15bn of convertible preferred shares and $3bn-plus of straight preferreds. In April, the company issued $6bn of hybrid preferred securities and, most recently, $4.5bn of common stock.

The total exceeds $40bn, of which more than $36bn requires payment of a coupon, at an average annual rate above 8%, until those securities that are convertible switch into common stock - a total cash flow burden of some $3bn a year.

The company’s dividend was $2.16 a share in 2007, approaching $11bn in all. The quarterly per-share dividend was slashed 41% to 32 cents a share in January.