Citigroup Inc and other banks could find themselves burdened with affiliated investment vehicles that issue 10s of billions of dollars in short-term debt, the Wall Street Journal said in its online edition on Wednesday.

The investment vehicles, known as conduits and structured investment vehicles (SIVs), are designed to operate separately from the banks and off their balance sheets, the report said.

Citigroup owns about 25 percent of the market for SIVs, representing nearly $100 billion of assets under management, the Journal said.

Citigroup has told investors in its SIVs that they are sound and there hasn't been any suggestion of problems with Citigroup's SIV or conduit vehicles so far, the report said.

But recent turmoil in the commercial paper market has raised concerns that SIVs and conduits could face problems that would force the banks affiliated with them to step in, the report said.

Citigroup officials were not immediately available for comment.

Citigroup