Sandy Weill, chairman and chief executive officer of Citigroup, sent out a bullish message to his competitors as the financial services conglomerate reported corporate and investment banking revenues down less dramatically than those of its competitors.

Citigroup's corporate and investment banking group pulled in revenues of $4.34bn (€4.8bn) in the third quarter, down from $4.93bn in the same quarter last year. Market rivals have seen comparable revenues fall 25% or more. So far this year the division has seen revenues fall just 2% on 2000 despite the slowdown in mergers and acquisitions and equity underwriting. The bank said that it ranked in the top three in every category of global debt and equity underwriting.