Citi Retreats From Physical Metals Markets as Bank Cuts Traders

Citigroup Inc. is stepping back from physical trading in industrial metals and has made a number of staff from its commodities team redundant, an employment tribunal in London heard.

The bank has in recent years grown to become one of the biggest banks in commodities, challenging long-time leaders Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Macquarie Group Ltd. and Morgan Stanley. It has made waves on the London Metal Exchange taking delivery of physical metal as part of bold financing trades that put it in competition with large trading houses.