Citigroup weighs cutting 10% of staff

Citigroup is poised to begin a deep round of job cuts as part of a reorganization instituted by CEO Jane Fraser, CNBC reports.

Why it matters: Citi's reorg could lead to one of the sector's largest headcount reductions in years.

Details: The reorganization plan, known internally by the code name "Project Bora Bora," could cut at least 10% of the company's 240,000-person global workforce, according to the report.

• The executive ranks could see deeper cuts as the bank seeks to eliminate regional managers and staff with overlapping responsibilities.
• Operations staff supporting businesses that have been divested or reorganized are also at higher risk of being cut.

Context: Citigroup has the second-largest workforce of any U.S. bank besides JPMorgan Chase.

• But while some competitors have been quietly laying off staff, Citi's headcount has remained largely unchanged over the past year.

Flashback: Citi announced plans for a reorganization in September designed to flatten its governance structure and eliminate management layers companywide.

• Under that structure, the heads of Citi's five key businesses — services, markets, banking, wealth and U.S. personal banking — would report directly to Fraser and be members of the executive management team.
• It also consolidated leadership of businesses outside North America under head of international Ernesto Torres Cantú.
• In doing so, it eliminated management layers in personal banking and wealth management and institutional clients groups, as well as regional layers in Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America.