Citigroup's global corporate and investment banking joint head Michael Carpenter said revenues from the investment bank side - now known as Schroder Salomon Smith Barney - were significantly above original projections.

The US bank's acquisition of one of the UK's last remaining independent investment banks was completed in May and represented a move to bolster Citigroup's european investment banking business.

"Clearly one weakness in our platform was Europe," Carpenter said at a presentation in London to coincide with the release of Citigroup's second quarter results in New York.

He said the Schroder deal was part of Citigroup's plans to close the gap between it and other top global investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. He acknowledged there was a revenue gap between Citigroup and those two firms.

Carpenter said he was confident the gap would be filled, but it would not be via more acquisitions.

"Schroders was the last piece of the jigsaw."

He said Citigroup had retained most of the Schroders staff in equities and investment banking and it had lost very few senior people during the integration process. Both investment banking and equities were performing ahead of expectations.

-- (Reuters)