Citi lays off 10 research staff in Asia Pacific as part of global revamp, sources say

HONG KONG — Citigroup Inc has laid off at least 10 people in its equities research department in Asia Pacific this week, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, as the bank pushes through the last phase of a sweeping global overhaul.

The bank, which has hundreds of employees in its equities research unit in the region, notified the impacted staff earlier this week, said the sources, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Citi declined to comment beyond a statement the Wall Street bank issued on Monday (March 25), which said the bank informed staff it had concluded "major actions" that it announced last September to revamp its structure and improve performance.

The reorganisation reduced management layers to eight from 13. The latest reshuffle finalises Citi's new structure and is part of a broader goal to trim its global workforce of 239,000 by 20,000 over the next two years.

One of the sources said that Citi will continue making cuts this week across all divisions at the bank in Asia-Pacific, including in investment banking. It is not immediately clear the total number of staff it is planning to cut in the region.

The latest layoffs add to 20 job cuts in the equities research unit at the bank in January.

Citi eliminated 1,500 managerial roles comprising 13 per cent of its worldwide leaders, CEO Jane Fraser said as the bank released its fourth-quarter results in January. The changes would create annual savings of about US$1 billion (S$1.34 billion), she said at the time.

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