$hiti Financial to cut up to 720 jobs

[marmar]

Citigroup’s CitiFinancial Unit Will Cut 376 Branches, 720 Jobs
By Bradley Keoun


June 1 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. will close 376 branches and cut as many as 720 jobs at its CitiFinancial consumer-lending businesses in the U.S. and Canada, under a plan to make the units more attractive to potential buyers.

The job cuts, disclosed by CitiFinancial Chief Executive Officer Mary McDowell in an interview, represent about 6.4 percent of the North American total. CitiFinancial will also convert 182 of the U.S. branches into “servicing centers” catering to customers who might need loan modifications or other debt restructurings, she said.

Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit has been trying to sell CitiFinancial since January 2009, one of at least 21 businesses the New York-based bank tagged for sale or liquidation after its $45 billion bailout in 2008. The bank, which has sold U.S. and Japanese brokerages, had signaled consumer-lending units saddled with loan losses might be tougher to sell.

The branch cuts “should provide a lot more clarity in terms of potential buyers looking at the full-service network branches, and being able to grow that segment,” McDowell said. “We think it does increase the salability and eventually the fundability, because whoever buys CitiFinancial will need to fund it.”

In the U.S., CitiFinancial will cut 500 to 600 jobs as it closes 330 branches, McDowell said. Following the conversions, the U.S. network would have 1,321 full-service branches, she said. CitiFinancial will keep at least one full-service branch or servicing in every state, she said. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4acAk6NLJ5g&pos=3

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Citi has your best interest at heart.

[DJ13]

2. Unemployment is too high for us to make loans, what to do?

Close our loan offices and add to the problem.

Good idea!