Citigroup, trying to duck controversy over its use of taxpayer bailout dollars, is considering reneging on a $400 million marketing deal with the New York Mets, the Wall Street Journal reports. The 20-year partnership—which includes naming the Mets new stadium Citi Field—may be scratched because Citi accepted $45 billion in TARP funds from the Treasury, as well as federal guarantees on $301 billion in loans.
The debate inside Citi is whether it's more important to distance the firm from taxpayer wrath, or avoid setting a bad precedent by wiggling out of a contract signed in 2006. "If we cave for political reasons, it will have enormous implications for our ability to contract with third parties," one exec tells the Journal.
(More financial crisis stories.)