Citi has sold ¥270bn ($2.2bn) worth of samurai bonds to finance part of its buyout of Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial, in a deal that surpasses the US bank's 2005 record for the largest local sale of yen denominated bonds by a foreign institution.

Citi unveiled on Tuesday it had increased its stake in Nikko by 7% to 69%, a move that cost it ¥117.3bn and handed the US bank full control of the Tokyo-based brokerage.