WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - The top U.S. consumer

finance watchdog agency on Thursday terminated a 2023

enforcement case against Citigroup's ( C/PN ) lending arm Citibank

that had penalized the banking giant for alleged discrimination

against Armenian Americans in California.

Citibank in 2023 agreed to pay nearly $26 million in fines

and consumer redress to resolve allegations that it had

intentionally discriminated against credit card applicants based

on their last names and then illegally fabricated records to

cover this up.

At the time, Citigroup ( C/PN ) apologized, saying a "small number"

of employees had circumvented protocols when trying to thwart an

Armenian fraud ring and that those involved had been

disciplined.

In an order posted Thursday to the CFPB's website, acting

Director Russell Vought said the CFPB had terminated the consent

order, noting that the bank had paid the settlement costs and

taken steps to prevent future violations.

Representatives for the CFPB and Citigroup ( C/PN ) declined to

comment. Vought, who is also President Donald Trump's budget

director and has overseen efforts to slash the federal

workforce, said Wednesday he expected to shut the CFPB down

within months.

The original 2023 consent order was due to remain in force

for another three years and contained provisions requiring the

bank to supply the CFPB with compliance records on request and

make employees and others available to investigators if

necessary.

Since Trump took control of the CFPB in February, the agency

has sought to undo several already-resolved enforcement actions,

including cases against Toyota Motor Credit, Bank of America,

Apple and US Bank. It has also dropped pending cases en masse.