国际英语新闻:Citigroup to cut 11,000 jobs

NEW YORK, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Citigroup announced on Wednesday that it would slash 11,000 jobs, or roughly 4 percent of its current workforce, in an effort to cut costs.

According to a statement from the U.S. bank, the bulk of the reduction would come from its consumer banking business, with 6, 200 positions to be removed. Another 1,900 jobs will be eliminated from the institutional clients division, and 2,600 jobs will be axed from operations and technology group.

Citigroup said that it expected to record pre-tax charges of approximately 1 billion dollars in the fourth quarter of 2012, and approximately 100 million dollars of related charges in the first half of 2013.

Meanwhile, the repositioning was also expected to generate about 900 million dollars in cost savings next year, and annual expense savings of more than 1.1 billion dollars beginning in 2014.

Citigroup said the series of repositioning actions will further reduce expenses and improve efficiency across the company, while maintaining its unique capabilities to serve clients, especially in the emerging markets.

"These actions are logical next steps in Citi's transformation, " said Michael Corbat, the bank's chief executive officer.

"And we will further increase our operating efficiency by reducing excess capacity and expenses, whether they center on technology, real estate or simplifying our operations," he added.