Citigroup Will Cut 26,000 Jobs in Effort to Streamline -- New York Times

The New York Times reports Citigroup CEO Charles Prince will eliminate or reassign over 26,000 jobs (8% percent of its work force) when he releases plans for a major overhaul on Wednesday. In a company memo Monday obtained and verified by Reuters, Prince said he would consolidate some back/middle-office and corporate functions, move some work to lower-cost areas, and make technology platforms more efficient. On Monday, CNBC said the company might cut up to 45,000 jobs, while other reports have pegged the cuts at just 15,000. The Times said Citigroup's consumer and credit card operations, and its investment banking units would see the most severe cuts, but that compliance and legal departments are also being 'heavily scrutinized,' an apparent reversal from a few years ago when the bank beefed up its compliance staff after several scandals.

Sources: New York Times, Reuters
Commentary: Citigroup: Break It Up! • Citigroup Addict Buys More Shares • Citigroup Unlike Other Big U.S. Banks
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Citigroup Inc. (C). Competitors: Deutsche Bank AG (DB), Credit Suisse Group (CS), Legg Mason Inc. (LM), UBS AG (UBS), Barclays PLC (BCS). ETFs: PowerShares Dynamic Banking (PJB), streetTRACKS KBW Bank (KBE)
Conference call transcript: Citigroup Q4 2006 Earnings Call Transcript

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