The US Treasury Department has moved to sell down its Citigroup holdings, the latest government effort to unwind the hefty ownership stakes it took in financial institutions at the height of the financial crisis.

The Treasury Department said it would cash out all of the trust preferred securities it holds in Citi for $2.25bn, and had sold 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup's common stock, taking its ownership stake to 12.4% from 17.5%.