At a time when few have much faith in Citigroup, one of the original true believers is making a big show of loyalty.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, who helped rescue Citi in the early 1990s, says he has increased his stake in the bank to 5 percent.

The prince expressed "his full and complete support to Citi management, led by Vikram Pandit, and believes they are taking all necessary steps to position the company to withstand the challenges facing the banking industry and the global economy," according to a statement obtained by Dow Jones.
 
The investment should provide relief to a battered stock. Shares of Citi fell 23 percent on Wednesday after the bank said that it would buy back $17.4 billion in assets held by its structured investment vehicles. The stock is down 78 percent this year.

It's not just the prince's money but also his history that might give confidence to investors. He has been the bank's most influential shareholder, supporting the 1998 merger with Sandy Weill's Travelers Corp. and dropping his backing of Charles Prince as chief executive last year. But some have said that his loyalty is largely sentimental (the bank provided him with a loan early in his career) and has clouded his judgment as an investor. Certainly, he has little to show in the way of returns over the last decade with Citi.

Alwaleed's stake has been diluted over the last 12 months, falling to under 4 percent, as Citigroup raised some $50 billion in capital. He was overtaken as Citi's biggest investor after the bank agreed to sell a 4.9 percent stake to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for $7.5 billion a year ago.

Citi is also getting $25 billion under the Treasury's financial rescue plan, TARP.

This fall has been a cruel season for Pandit, Citi's chief executive. He lost face with the botched deal for Wachovia, and his plan on Monday to cut more than 50,000 jobs and slash expenses by 20 percent has been met with a less-than-enthusiastic response on Wall Street.

But he has apparently won over one of the company's largest and longest-standing shareholders, and that should count for something.