Citigroup agrees to pay $285m to investors for misleading them

Citigroup will pay $285m (£180m) to settle charges that it misled investors in a $1bn mortgage bond deal at the heart of the credit crisis.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also unveiled a $2.5m settlement with Credit Suisse, which helped Citigroup build the deal, a collateralised debt obligation, or CDO, that was tied to the performance of the US housing market just before the crash.

Citigroup bet against investors who bought into the CDO and consequently lost money. Like Credit Suisse, it neither admitted nor denied the charges.