The reign of Salomon has come to an end - at least in name, anyway.
Effective today, the name Salomon, which has been visible on Wall Street for over 90years, will be wiped from investment banking land. Citigroup will be used in its stead.
In 1987, Salomon Brothers exited the municipal bond business, and re-entered the marketin 1997.
The brand Salomon Smith Barney, which was born when Travelers Group merged Smith BarneyHoldings with Salomon Inc. in 1997, has been axed. Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, whichreferred to the U.K. investment banking arm of the firm, also has been put to sleep.
In their places, the name Citigroup will be used. Although the legal entity is CitigroupGlobal Markets Inc., as a general rule, the entity will now be known as Citigroup whenreferring to Citigroup's global corporate and investment bank, according to Brian Steel,director of corporate communications.
The Nikko Salomon Smith Barney joint venture brand in Japan has been buried in favor ofNikko Citigroup.
The equity research group will still be called Smith Barney, which will also apply toall equity research analysts. The equity research product will bear the logo CitigroupSmith Barney. The consumer-retail division will continue to be branded Citibank, whileCitigroup's asset management and private banking businesses will continue to be calledCitigroup.
The only place where the name Salomon will continue to be used is within the assetmanagement arm of parent company Citigroup Inc., where it will continue to existalongside subsidiary Smith Barney Asset Management Inc. as Salomon Brothers AssetManagement Inc., which primarily focuses on externally distributed products.
The name changes have been in the planning stages for a while. In an internal memo inFebruary, Chuck Prince, chairman and chief executive officer of Citigroup GlobalCorporate and Investment bank, said, "The decision to use Citigroup broadly highlightsthe strength of our business and closely aligns us with our parent organization, whichis known for its global reach, broad range of outstanding products services and team ofthe highest level professionals."
The name change started as early as May 2001, when Citigroup announced it would combineits subsidiary investment banking arm, Salomon Smith Barney, with Citibank GlobalRelationship Bank to create Citigroup Corporate & Investment Bank. That change becameeffective in the first quarter of 2002.
The history of the entities that make up Salomon Smith Barney goes back to the 1800s,when in 1873 Charles Barney, an investment banker, founded his firm, and Edward B. Smithstarted his firm in 1892, according to Citigroup's Web site.
In 1987, Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. was acquired by Primerica Corp., a publiclyheld financial services corporation later led by Sanford I. Weill.
Primerica acquired the retail brokerage and asset management operations of ShearsonLehman Brothers and combined them with Smith Barney in July 1993.
