Citigroup Global Markets filed a lawsuit against a set of Saudi family investors who previously filed a $383 million claim against the firm.  Citigroup seeks to stop an arbitration case filed with FINRA in August by Abdullah Abbar and Ghazi Abbar, father and son Saudi nationals. Citigroup claims that the Abbars were not clients of the U.S.-based broker-dealer Citigroup Global Markets Inc., which was named in the arbitration suit the pair filed with FINRA in August. Instead, the private equity and hedge fund investments the Abbars took part in during the years 2006 and 2007 came from Citigroup entities in the Cayman Islands, Switzerland and United Kingdom, the firm said. Those entities are not subject to FINRA rules because they are located outside of the United States. The Abbars, who are represented by New York-based law firm Rich & Intelisano LLP, disagree. Rich & Intelisano plans to fight Citigroup's claims based on the fact that the New York entity and its employees were the ones that sold the Abbars the investments. The next step will probably be an oral argument over whether there should be a temporary restraining order stopping the arbitration. If the Abbars' arbitration proceeds, the case will address their initial claims that misconduct by Citigroup Global Markets and its employees "virtually wiped out" the Abbars fortune that totaled about $350 million as of 2005, their August claim said. The investments cited in the arbitration dispute include two leveraged option transactions that had a leveraged exposure to multiple hedge funds, as well as another private equity transaction involving a unit trust and related loan. The family was wooed to work with Citigroup after a financial advisor they were working with at Deutsche Bank joined that firm. By luring the Abbars to Citigroup, that banker became a top private banker at the firm and the Abbars became one of the firm's top ten international clients, according to the Abbars' arbitration filing. [On Wall Street, 10/7/11]