Citigroup and Merrill Lynch turned to foreign investors for an unprecedented bail-out on Tuesday, saying they would raise a total of $21.1bn in fresh capital – mainly from outside the US – to shore up balance sheets devastated by the subprime mortgage crisis.

Citigroup also unnerved investors by warning of losses to come from consumer loans as it revealed a 40 per cent dividend cut, a $9.83bn fourth-quarter loss, $18bn in subprime-related credit writedowns and remaining exposure of $37bn to subprime mortgages.