Citi: Australian cuts to be minor
Citi in Australia is likely to cut a small number of staff in the next few months, but will not see deep cuts after the announcement of a further 11,000 job losses at the bank worldwide.Citi spokesperson Steven Blaney told Banking Day that Citi "continuously review the business model" and that the Australian bank "needs to become more efficient in some areas.""You will probably see some further minor actions over the coming months." Blaney said the cuts "won't change our product offering or any of our services", and that the expansion of trade finance announced last week would still go ahead."We continue to invest and grow," he said.Citi employs around 2000 people in Australia, Blaney said.As reported yesterday in Banking Day, the latest Citi cuts are the first major initiative of new CEO Michael Corbat.Corbat is widely expected to continue slicing costs in a bank that has shrunk rapidly since 2008. Citigroup chief financial officer John Gerspach was reported yesterday as calling the cuts "a fairly comprehensive initial foray" for Citi's new leaders - a phrase suggestive of further cuts.