New Citi (C) Hires Sued by Wilmington Trust (WL)

You know when a company like Wilmington Trust (NYSE:WL) sues former employees after leaving the company that there is pain involved, as they have with 3 former vice presidents who were hired away by Citigroup (NYSE:C).

Some of the allegations appear nonsensical, such as those claiming they got together with other employees and attempted to persuade them to leave the company for Citigroup. Even if that is true, so what?

Other complaints are the alleged attempt by Barbara L. McCollum to user her computer at the company to attempt to email the entire financial database for clients of her team in the Wealth Advisory Services group to another email account.

Robert D. Rosenberg was accused of being provided with a document containing WAS client information by his assistant which he allegedly took with him after he stepped down.

If this final one is true, it may have merit and legs to stand on. In this case the three defendants, which also includes Paul T. Gordon, along with McCollum and Rosenberg, were accused of falsifying the facts surrounding the upcoming merger with M&T and implying that the accounts were at risk if they stayed with Wilmington Trust.

Wilmington Trust is seeking temporary restraining orders which would keep the former executives from working for Citi, from soliciting former WTC clients, and from divulging any trade secrets. The company also is asking for the return of any confidential information they may possess.

The reason this is all a big deal is the key catalyst in M&T deciding to acquire WTC was the Wealth Advisory Services unit, according to the lawsuit.

If that's found to be the case, and a significant chuck of clients migrated to Citigroup via these executives, it would be a big blow to the deal and it's purpose.

Citigroup (C) Raids 5 Bankers from WL Before MTB Acquisition

Citigroup (NYSE:C) raided five bankers from Wilmington Trust Corp (NYSE:WL) before the completion of the acquisition of Wilmington by M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB).

Paul Hubert, Citi Private Bank's eastern regional head noted, "This is an important region for us and the collective experience and success of these talented private banking professionals will be instrumental in expanding our franchise throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware."

M&T Bank spokesman C. Michael Zabel responded, saying, "We understand that it's been a long and difficult road for Wilmington Trust employees, and while we're disappointed, we're not surprised to lose a few along the way."

"At M&T, we see a tremendous future for the Wilmington Trust business lines once the deal is closed and we look forward to working with the Wilmington Trust team to build that future together."

The new hires will work with high-end clients, privately held business owners in Pennsylvania and Delaware, foundations and endowments, according to Citigroup.

Citigroup closed Wednesday at $4.45.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Replaces Office Depot (NYSE:OD) on S&P 500

Several changes were made to the S&P 500 Thursday, with one of the more notable ones being the addition of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), which will be replacing Office Depot (NYSE:OD) on the index.

Other changes made include the addition of Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE:CVC), which is replacing King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE:KG) because of being acquired by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE).

Also being dropped from the S&P is Eastman Kodak (NYSE:EK) and the New York Times (NYSE:NYT), who will be replaced by Newfield Exploration (NYSE:NFX) and F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV).

Stocks removed from the S&P 500 will be lowered to the mid-cap 400 index.

Also noted in the S&P report was changes to the SmallCap 600, where Coldwater Creek Inc. (NASD:CWTR), Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASD:COCO) and Wilmington Trust Corp. (NYSE:WL) will be replaced by East West Bancorp Inc. (NASD: EWBC), SM Energy Co. (NYSE:SM) and Concur Technologies Inc.

Those removed from the SmallCap 600 will be placed in the S&P MidCap 400.