Citigroup Inc., bracing for big credit-related losses in the fourth quarter, is looking to cut costs with another round of job cuts, according to CNBC.
CNBC reported Monday that "massive" layoffs were planned. Though exact numbers had not yet been set, the total job cut could be as many as 45,000, CNBC reported. Citigroup currently has about 320,000 employees.
"We are engaged in a planning process in anticipation of our new CEO, and our business heads are planning ways in which we can be more efficient and cost-effective to position our businesses in line with economic realities," said Citi spokeswoman Shannon Bell told the Associated Press.
Citi said in April that it would eliminate 17,000 jobs as part of a broad restructuring designed to cut costs, which at the time was about 5 percent of its work force.
The additional layoffs would come as Citi wrestles with asset write downs and looks for a new chief executive officer. Former CEO Charles Prince resigned on Nov. 4, the same day Citi said it may write off this quarter $11 billion of assets linked to subprime mortgages.
In the third quarter, Citi's subprime mortgages and its exposure to financial instruments tied to those mortgages led to a loss of about $6.5 billion.
Prince was replaced as chairman by former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and as interim CEO by Sir Win Bischoff, chairman of Citi Europe who has said he doesn't want the job permanently.
Prince hasn't been the only Citigroup executive to leave the bank since it warned of big losses in early October.
Tom Maheras, co-CEO of investment banking, and Randy Barker, head of fixed income trading, left in mid-October when Vikram Pandit was promoted to lead a unit that combined the markets and banking segment with alternative investments. Pandit had been put in charge of alternative investments in the spring when Citigroup bought the hedge fund he co-founded.
And nearly two weeks after Prince's resignation, chief risk officer Dave Bushnell announced his retirement. Bushnell was a 22-year Citi veteran whom Prince promoted to chief administrative officer in September, saying he would only be senior risk officer for a "transitional period of time." Jorge A. Bermudez, who has been with Citi for 30 years, took Bushnell's place.