急于摆脱“接受政府监护”屈辱名声的花旗集团（Citigroup）正在研究制定一项计划，以降低美国政府所持公司34%的股份。

　　据知情人士透露，花旗高管一直在商议制定计划，可能发股筹资数十亿美元；按照这一计划，花旗将向公众发行新股，而美国财政部将至少出售部分花旗股份。

　　知情人士称，讨论仍处于初步阶段。花旗尚未正式向财政部提出这一想法，但高管们预计很快就会这么做。据一位知情人士称，花旗高管已经与联邦银行监管部门讨论了他们的计划。

　　美国财政部上周获得了花旗77亿股普通股。财政部通过转换一部分所持的花旗优先股获得了这些股份。此前，政府向花旗注资450亿美元获得了这些优先股。优先股转普通股的转换方案是在春季达成的，当时市场不断质疑花旗的资本充足率。

　　花旗计划开始减少政府持股反映出华尔街正迅速走出金融危机最糟糕的时刻。这个问题可能还将初步试探出奥巴马政府将如何在各种想法之间达到平衡；奥巴马政府希望开始逐步结束政府对金融体系的广泛干预举措，但同时市场对银行业整体，尤其是花旗集团健康状况的担忧情绪挥之不去。

　　虽然花旗集团过去两个季度实现了净收益，但该行仍在苦苦应对不断增长的贷款违约，并仍然持有数百亿美元难以出手以及高风险的资产。

　　甚至在财政部通过转换获得花旗股份之前，花旗高管就在考虑如何减少政府持股了。暂定的计划是花旗和政府共同出售股份。知情人士称，按照这一计划，花旗将发售至多50亿美元的新股，而政府也将同时出售金额未定的花旗股份。

　　花旗高管希望，最快能在第四季度实施这一发股计划。知情人士透露，花旗可能会将售股所得用来赎回部分财政部所持的优先股。花旗高管表示，只有财政部也同意出售股份，公司才会发售股份。

　　花旗集团和美国财政部拒绝对此置评。

　　如果美国政府出售部分花旗股份，那么纳税人将获得投资回报。美国政府是以每股3.25美元的价格将所持的花旗优先股转化为普通股的。花旗股价周一收盘报4.52美元。这意味着美国政府所持的77亿股股份升值了大约98亿美元。

　　Citigroup Inc.， eager to shed the stigma of being a ward of the state， is working on a plan to reduce the U.S. government's 34% stake.

　　Top Citigroup executives have been devising plans for a possible multibillion-dollar stock offering in which the New York company would issue new shares to the public， while the Treasury Department would sell at least a portion of its Citigroup holdings， according to people familiar with the matter.

　　The discussions remain preliminary， the people said. Citigroup hasn't yet officially pitched the idea to the Treasury Department， but executives expect to do so soon. Citigroup officials already have discussed their plans with federal banking regulators， said one person familiar with the matter.

　　The Treasury Department acquired 7.7 billion shares of Citigroup stock last week. The federal government got that stake in return for a chunk of its holdings of Citigroup preferred shares， which the Treasury received when it pumped $45 billion into Citigroup. The preferred-for-common conversion was agreed to last spring as doubts swirled about the adequacy of Citigroup's capital.

　　Citigroup's expected request to start trimming the government stake reflects Wall Street's rapid rebound from the dark days of the financial crisis. It also could prove an early test of how the Obama administration balances its desire to start winding down the government's vast interventions into the financial system against continued concerns about the health of the banking industry in general and Citigroup in particular.

　　While Citigroup has reported net income for the last two quarters， the company still is struggling with swelling loan defaults and continues to hold tens of billions of dollars of unwanted and risky assets.

　　Even before the Treasury Department got the Citigroup shares， executives were examining how to shrink the government's stake. The tentative aim is for a joint stock sale. Under this scenario， Citigroup would issue as much as $5 billion in new shares， while the government would simultaneously sell an undetermined amount of the stock it is holding， the people said.

　　Executives hope such an offering could take place as soon as the fourth quarter. Citigroup could use proceeds from a stock sale to redeem some of the preferred stock the Treasury is holding， the people said. Executives say the company would launch a stock offering only if the Treasury agrees to also sell shares.

　　Citigroup and the Treasury declined to comment.

　　If the U.S. does sell some of its Citigroup shares， taxpayers could get a profit. The government converted its preferred shares into common stock at $3.25 a share. Citigroup's shares closed Monday at $4.52. That means the government's 7.7 billion shares have gained about $9.8 billion.