New York (PTI) In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, Citigroup is looking to sell its German retail banking operations, a move that would make Citi the first bank to withdraw from an important territory, UK daily Financial Times has said.

The German operation is among Citi's assets deemed as non-core by its Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, who said this month, he intended to cut the bank's assets by up to USD 500 billion in an attempt to increase returns, FT said.

"Citigroup is looking to sell its German retail banking operations as part of the radical steps being taken by Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive, to scale back his company's operations in the wake of the credit crisis," the FT reported.

Pandit has repeatedly said the bank could not afford "hobbies" businesses that lacked critical mass or a strategic fit with the rest of the conglomerate, it added.

Quoting analysts the UK daily said the sale could raise around 4-5 billion Euro (USD 6.2 billion to 7.7 billion).

The sale, would attract interest from domestic rivals as well as international banks keen for a foothold in the country, FT said, adding an WestLB analyst Georg Kanders' comment "the business would be of interest to Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank."

Attributing to a person familiar with the plan, FT said "The process has been initiated".

Citi has been in Germany since 1926 and its retail bank in Germany employs about 6,800 people and runs 340 branches.

A sale would fuel expectations of bank consolidation in Germany, where the retail banking market is highly fragmented and many banks are keen to increase their market share, said FT.