The United States' third largest lender by assets, Citigroup Inc., settled a transaction to sell its retail banking division based in Urugauay to Itau Unibanco Holding SA. Chief executive officer Michael Corbat has been reducing the bank's operations in some countries.

Itau Unibanco Holding will acquire a portfolio of about 15,000 customers in the Uruguay region for an amount that the company described as "not material" in its statement posted on the bank's official website. A majority of the portfolio of customers are involved in the credit card operations of Citigroup, which comprises 6% of the Uruguayan market last year.

The chief executive officer is exiting or discarding some of Citigroup's operations in markets outside of the United States due to rising costs. He plans on pulling back from consumer-driven operations in specific countries which included Uruguay. Ultimately, the firm is withdrawing businesses from a total of 21 countries.

"Citi has been operating in Uruguay for almost a century and is committed to serving its corporate and investment banking clients there while maintaining its commitment towards the economic and social development of the country," said Citigroup's spokesman Anthony Ingham.