Report: Citigroup may need $10B in extra capital

NEW YORK -- The New York-based bank is negotiating with the Federal Reserve and may need less capital if it is able to convince regulators of its financial health, The Wall Street Journal said on its website. The report cited people familiar with the matter.

A Citigroup spokeswoman said the bank had no comment on the Journal story.

On Friday, the government pushed back its expected release date of the stress test results to Thursday from Monday, as regulators negotiate with the banks over the findings.

Banks will have up to six months to raise money from private sources, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said. If they can't, the government would provide aid.

Citigroup has already received $45 billion in federal funds.

The government, which will soon own a 36% stake in the bank, also has agreed to insure a pool of more than $300 billion of its riskiest assets.

Earlier Friday, Citigroup announced that it was selling its Japanese brokerage business to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. for about $5.6 billion. The troubled bank has been shedding businesses over the past year to slim down and raise cash.

Citigroup posted a first-quarter loss to common shareholders of $966 million, or 18 cents per share. The loss was smaller than analysts had forecast.

Citigroup shares closed regular trading Friday down 8 cents, or 2.6%, to $2.97.