Mr. Flexner said Citigroup's increase in lending wasn't done directly in exchange for the new underwriting business.

WSJ: Citi Takes Top Spot in REIT Equity Deals

"Right now every bank on Wall Street is running going-private models on the REIT sector, " says Thomas Flexner, senior managing director at Bear, Stearns.

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Specifically, a well-worn hardcover copy of I Remember, the 1940 autobiography of a man named Abraham Flexner, whom few modern philanthropists have even heard of.

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Mr. Flexner of Citigroup said the bank became more aggressive in pursuing REIT underwriting business after the sector weathered the brutal downturn with very few defaults on debt obligations.

WSJ: Citi Takes Top Spot in REIT Equity Deals

James Thomas Flexner titled his biography Washington: The Indispensable Man, and in it he made the argument that of all the founding fathers Washington was the one the country could not do without.

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"We decided we were going to increase our capital commitment to the REIT sector because we felt confident we could manage the risk, " said Thomas Flexner, global head of real estate for Citigroup.

WSJ: Citi Takes Top Spot in REIT Equity Deals