The colossal losses amounting $8.3 billion have forced Citigroup to make an attempt for steering itself towards profit – as such the latest announcement by the struggling banking icon is its split into two parts.

The losses, comprising the company’s fifth straight quarterly deficit, have brought forth two divisions of the company’s “financial supermarket” - Citicorp and Citi Holdings!

Under the latest arrangement, Citicorp would primarily focus on traditional banking the world over, while Citi Holdings would hold the riskier assets as well as tougher-to-manage ventures of the company.

Citicorp, with about $1.1 trillion in assets, would be the more stable division, housing the company’s private and investment bank, along with its credit card and consumer banking business. Meanwhile, the smaller Citi Holdings comprise the bank’s ‘non-core’ businesses, which include Smith Barney brokerage and an assortment of troubled assets that have weighed down the firm for over a year. Moreover, in the case of a dire need, Citi would spin off or sell its Citi Holdings’ assets for raising cash!

According to the Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit, the move to split the company into two is aimed at reducing the bank’s operating costs, and reveals its increasing focus on deposit-gathering and back-to-basics lending.

In a statement, Pandit said: “The realignment will preserve what makes Citi unique - its global, universal banking footprint. We will continue to move aggressively to get Citi back on the right track and return it to a position of sustainable financial success.”