Citigroup Inc is looking to raise any additional capital it might need from private investors, rather than giving more control to the government, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter.

Regulators have told Citigroup, which has received $45 billion in U.S. government money, that it will not need another injection of taxpayer funds, Bloomberg reported, citing one person familiar with the matter.

The bank's discussions with the government are focused on how much of the government's preferred stock investment must be converted into common shares, according to this person, Bloomberg reported.

Private investment might help Citi prevent the government from converting all or part of its $27 billion investment, Bloomberg said; conversion could give the government more than 50 percent ownership of the bank.

A Citi spokesman was not immediately available.

Citigroup is one of 19 U.S. banks undergoing a stress test designed to ensure the banks have sufficient capital to withstand the recession.

The amount of capital Citi would need to raise after the test results are finalized would likely be manageable if the bank needed to boost its equity at all, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.

The bank has multiple ways to raise common equity, including expanding its plans to allow investors to swap up to $52.5 billion of preferred shares for common stock, and selling assets.

These measures are expected to be sufficient to meet any capital the government ultimately presses Citigroup to raise, the people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

(Reporting by Elinor Comlay, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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