Sanford I Weill (66), Citigroup Inc's chairman & co-chief executive officer, is interested, but not happy. "We want to (enter insurance in India). The problem here is that you can't do that". Because Weill is not comfortable with the idea of a 26 per cent cap on equity holding by overseas partners in the insurance sector.

Says Weill: "That is not opening up... it is not as good as 50, 75 or 100 per cent though it is beter than zero."

Weill should know. He has been in the financial services business for 45 event-filled years. Weill came into his current station from Travelers where he was chief executive until the merger with Citicorp. Prior to his stint with Travelers, Weill was chairman of Travelers' predecessor, Commercial Credit Company, which later acquired Primerica Corporation in 1988. Five years down the line, Primerica acquired The Travelers Corporation, and adopted the Travelers group name. Weill also serves as a director on the boards of AT&T Corp and Dupont Company.

This is not all. In his other avatars, he was president of Citibank's arch rival, American Express Company, and as chairman and chief executive of its subsidiary, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company. So how did Weill come to where he is now? In 1960, Weill and three partners set up Carter, Berlind, Potoma and Weill, a predecessor to Shearson Loeb Rhoades, which was gobbled up in 1981 by American Express. In 1993, Travelers acquired Shearson Lehman Brothers retail brokerage and asset management business. And on October 8, 1998, Travelers and Citicorp merged.

But it is tough trying to pin the seasoned Weill on specifics. What should be the ideal equity holding threshold in insurance?

"You first open up". Probe him further-Is 26 per cent not good enough to get a foothold?-and Weill retorts: "The only 26 per cent partnership that works is the one that I have with my wife!". Weill knows a fair amount about partnerships-a father of two, and grandfather of four, he is to remarry his wife desi ishtyle6 in Agra.

"Fifty-fifty is a partnership", says Weill, like in the case of Citicorp-Travelers merger, adding: "It was a merger of equals and it took us quite a while to understand."

Right at the top of the Citigroup pyramid, you have Weill, John Reid and Robert Rubin, former US secretary of state who is also a former CEO of Goldman Sachs. Rubin is currently the chairman of the executive committee of Citigroup's board of directors.

Is it not top heavy?

"We have $52 billion in equity, $60 billion in revenues and $10 billion in post tax profits... we have a whole range of services, and that requires more than a few people to run the show", says Weill, and adds: "Our aim is to be among the top five in asset management (Citigroup plans to enter this busines), in assets managed and in returns".

And where does India figure in all this, a market where it has issued over a million cards, a pioneer in introducing consumer focussed lending packages and electronic banking? Given the low costs, does Citibank propose to make India a centre for back office operations and a call centre?

Says Nanoo Pamnani, Citibank's chief executive (India): "We do processing work in India for operations in Eastern Europe and Saloman Smith Barney. If GE, British Airways and Swiss Air can do it, so can we."

Citibank ventured into software exports in 1985 and claims that it is the third largest exporter of software as of now, and also a 40 per cent share of consumer durables and auto financing.

Adds Citibank's president, Victor J Menezes: "One of our objectives is to marry the talents of Citibank with Saloman Smith Barney... to meet the needs of top corporates. We are looking at expanding Saloman Smith Barney's. In Asia, we had a good run. That is testimony to our placement abilities. We look forward to working along with Indian corporates". In 1997, Citibank set up a non-banking finance company, Citicorp Finance India Ltd, capitalised at $50 million.

Going ahead, Citibank sees technology shaping banking, and convergence. Is death of brick and mortar banking round the corner?

"In any case, in the US, we don't have a lot of brick and mortar", says Weill. The case appears to be no different in India. Despite operating in a traditional banking environment with only eight branches, Citibank services a corporate customer base of 500 and over 70,000 non-resident Indians NRIs). As a custodian, Citibank manages $5.3 billion in assets, an 8 per cent share of the forex business and NRI deposits of $1.7 billion.

Says Pamnani: "In Bangalore, we have launched `Suvidha'. It uses every channel other than brick and mortar. We have been tracking customer behaviour. Internet will open up a new channel on the liabilities side". Adds Menezes" We will take it national, but that does not mean we want to put up railroads in every city. There are ATMs and EDCs and it is getting networked".

So what's the bottomline. "You can read the papers and keep changing your five year plan. But the fundamental thing is that you have to be a low cost player with good products and services", says Weill.

Absolutely.