Wednesday Headlines: Citi sheds 4,500 workers as its future remains uncertain

Citigroup will lay off 4,500 workers over the next few quarters, according to a story in DealBook today. Nearly every part of the bank will face cuts, with most of the job losses from Citi’s back office and investment banking operations. The cuts represent 2 percent of the 262,500 employees – 100,000 fewer than before the financial crisis, the article states.

Citi CEO Vikram Pandit warned of continued struggles ahead. Indeed, the bank’s future appears uncertain. As DealBook writes, "the market turmoil in Europe has rippled around the world," and Mr. Pandit’s recovery strategy has lost some steam.

While Citigroup has cranked out seven consecutive quarters of profits after it set aside less money to cover bad loans, the bank has struggled to increase its income. Revenue fell 10 percent to about $60 billion in the first nine months of this year, compared with the period a year ago.

Other News:

Pacific West Securities, the Seattle based broker-dealer with nearly 300 reps, will close. [Investment News]

Deutsche Bank’s head of corporate finance investment banking in Japan resigned as the bank cut 20 jobs in Tokyo. [Bloomberg]

The Bank of England has suggested that British banks cut employee compensation and shareholder dividends. [DealBook]

Spain’s Grupo Santander will sell its Colombian unit to CorpBanca of Chile for $1.225 billion. [Bloomberg]

GE’s finance arm plans to go after retail depositors in the U.S. next year. [WSJ]

The U.S. government filed civil-fraud charges against four Chinese citizens and a China-based firm for “highly profitable and highly suspicious” trading. [WSJ]