Citigroup considering at least 10% job cuts in major businesses

Citigroup's (C.N) managers and consultants working on CEO Jane Fraser's reorganization have discussed job cuts of at least 10 per cent in several major businesses, CNBC reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the process.

The bank has warned of job cuts as part of a sweeping overhaul it unveiled in September, but has said it will estimate the scale of layoffs and cost savings in the current quarter.

The reorganization, known internally as "Project Bora Bora" according to CNBC, is intended to give Fraser more direct control as she seeks to simplify the Wall Street giant and boost its stock price.

The discussions are at an early stage and the number of people axed could change, CNBC said, adding that the lender had hired Boston Consulting Group for the plan.

Fraser's push to eliminate regional managers, co-heads and others with overlapping roles will translate into job cuts beyond 10 per cent for executives, the report said.

Last month, Citi said it would cut management layers from 13 to eight. In the two top layers of leadership, 15 per cent of functional roles were reduced and 60 committees were eliminated, it said

The bank's global headcount has stayed at 240,000 this year, it disclosed in its latest quarterly supplement last month.

"As we've said previously, we are committed to delivering the full potential of the bank and meeting our commitments to our stakeholders," a spokesperson for the bank said while declining to comment if it had hired Boston Consulting Group.

"We've acknowledged the actions we're taking to reorganize the firm involve some difficult, consequential decisions, but they're the right steps to align our structure to our strategy and deliver the plan we shared at our 2022 Investor Day."

Since taking charge of the banking giant in 2021, Fraser has tried to improve profits, streamline the bank and fix regulatory problems. Its stock, however, has still lagged peers.

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