Citigroup's private bank pulling money from SAC Capital: WSJ

Citigroup Inc's private bank is withdrawing its $187 million investment from SAC Capital Advisors LP, the latest of several client redemptions at the hedge fund firm, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The question of investor redemptions from Steven A. Cohen's SAC Capital has come up in the wake of charges brought last month by U.S. authorities against a former SAC Capital portfolio manager, Mathew Martoma.

He is accused of using inside information to generate profits and avoid losses totaling $276 million in shares of two drug stocks, Elan Corp PLC and Wyeth. The deadline for submitting redemptions to Cohen's $14 billion hedge fund is February 15.

"We do not expect the redemptions by certain external investors to have a significant impact on our funds," an SAC spokesman said.

"We are confident that the aggregate outflows of capital will neither impair our ability to generate returns for our funds nor adversely impact our business," he said.

A spokesman for Citigroup did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. However, a spokeswoman said in a statement to the WSJ that the decision "should not be construed as a statement on the merits of any outstanding legal proceedings or potential regulatory action" related to the scrutiny on SAC.

(Reporting By Dena Aubin; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer)