Citigroup raises stake in Nikko Cordial to 68 pct

TOKYO (Reuters) - Citigroup (C.N) has raised its stake in Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial Corp. 8603.T to 68 percent this month from 61 percent, according to a filing to Japan's finance ministry.

Citigroup in April secured 61 percent of Nikko Cordial's voting stock in a $7.7 billion tender offer bid, with an aim to eventually turn Japan's third-biggest brokerage into a wholly owned subsidiary.

Securing more than a two-thirds stake would give the U.S. banking group better control over Nikko Cordial without worrying about potential veto moves from minority investors.

New York-based Citigroup is hoping to recover credibility at the scandal-hit Nikko Cordial, which escaped a threatened delisting by the Tokyo bourse over its accounting mess.