Market Updates: Citigroup (NYSE:C), New York Mellon (NYSE:BK), Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT), Ford Motor (NYSE:F)

Citigroup (NYSE:C) Gary Shedlin, an adviser to financial clients including BlackRock Inc.’s Laurence Fink, is departing to join Morgan Stanley, said a person with knowledge of the matter. Shedlin, 46, was most recently chairman of Citigroup’s investment-banking effort for financial institutions, focusing on client relationships. He notified Citigroup of his plans recently, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the move hasn’t been announced. Citigroup is losing a banker who helped NYSE Group Inc. create the first transatlantic securities market with its 9 billion euro ($12 billion) purchase of Euronext NV, and who has counseled BlackRock, the world’s biggest money manager, for more than a decade. Dealmaker magazine named him its “top rainmaker” in the financials sector in 2006. –Bloomberg

Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK), the world’s largest custodian of financial assets, said it agreed to acquire Germany’s BHF Asset Servicing GmbH for about $343 million. In other news, Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT) is being probed by Britain’s Panel on Takeovers and Mergers after the company opted to close Cadbury’s Somerdale candy factory in Keynshaw, according to Wall Street Journal sources. Also, Ford Motor (NYSE:F) shares may be under pressure Monday after Barron’s on Sunday said that following the 800% rise in Ford shares in little more than a year it could be time to take profits. –Daily Finance

Japan’s current-account surplus totaled 899.8 billion yen ($9.93 billion) in January, slimming from a 900.8 billion yen surplus in December but marking a swing from the year-earlier deficit of 1.33 trillion yen, according to Ministry of Finance data released Monday. The result compared with a forecast surplus of 750 billion yen, reported by Dow Jones Newswires. The goods and services account had a surplus of 37.3 billion yen, down from 505.0 billion yen in the previous month. –MarketWatch

The cost of insuring Dubai’s sovereign debt against default fell sharply Monday and stocks jumped on signs that Dubai World will approach creditors this week with a proposal for restructuring $22 billion in debt. The Dubai Financial Market’s main index of shares gained 1.7% to 1649.14, extending Sunday’s 2.3% advance. Meanwhile, Dubai’s five-year credit-default-swap spread—a key measure of credit risk—tightened around 0.21 percentage point to 4.86 percentage points in early trading. –Wall Street Journal