"We have found the brand name 'Citigroup' has become strongly established in the corporate and institutional marketplace and that many of our clients now use 'Citigroup,' regardless of the business with which they may work," Chairman Sanford Weill wrote in an e-mail to employees Monday. The changes will take effect during the first quarter of 2002.

With the move, Citi is putting to rest a name whose origins go back to 1910, when Salomon Brothers and Hutzler was created. In 1981, that firm merged with trading house Phibro Corp., which became Salomon Inc. in 1986.

In 1997, Weill's Travelers Group bought the bank, merging it with Smith Barney.

Salomon is only the latest great Wall Street name to fall victim to the merger wars. Other recent casualties include Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, Dean Witter and Dillon Read.

While sentimental types might bemoan Salomon's exit from Wall Street's lexicon, Weill, in making the decision, noted "advantages to having a more unified brand," including leveraging marketing and advertising campaigns across the company and strengthening "the common culture we are developing as Citigroup."

At least one branding expert agreed with Weill's reasoning. "A word like Citi is a word that will be widely understood worldwide," said SB Master, co-founder and president of Master-McNeil, a Berkeley, Calif.-based branding firm. "If you know 200 words in English, one of them is probably going to be Citi."

"I don't think there's a whole lot of downside to this," she added.

Smith Barney will replace Salomon Smith Barney as the brand for Citigroup's private client business, and Citibank will remain the consumer and corporate bank brand in the emerging markets. CitiCapital will be the new brand for the equipment finance business.

As for the asset management and private banking group, Citigroup Private Bank replaces Citibank Private Bank, while Citigroup Asset Management replaces SSB Citi Asset Management. Smith Barney and Salomon will continue as fund family brand names, and Citifunds will be the main international fund family brand.

Also, Citigroup Venture Capital will replace Citicorp Venture Capital. In the insurance realm, Travelers will be the brand name for the North American insurance franchise, while internationally, the insurance business will be known as CitiInsurance.