As Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba prepares to go public, several international banks are striving to curry favor with the company in order to be part of the IPO. In a new capital-raising deal for Alibaba, Citigroup (C 0.84%) may have earned some good standing with the company by contributing to its goal of raising $8 billion from a group of banks. Could this loan lead to a great new relationship for Citigroup and China?

In the video below, Fool financial analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson discuss why the bank/investment bank model for large banks like Citigroup can give them the competitive power they need to win large deals like this one.