Citigroup Australia cuts structured products jobs
Four sales positions have been made redundant in Citigroup’s structured products division in Australia in the past week.
Citigroup Australia claims the redundancies were part of a “year-end review of the business” and were unrelated to the group’s announcement last week that it would slash thousands of jobs internationally.
This followed the group’s posting of a record US$11 billion loss for the final quarter of 2007 — or a US$1 billion loss a week for the quarter — related to loans made to the now slumping US housing market.
The local redundancies follow from a review decision to “merge sales desks across warrants, structured loans and structured products”, according to Judy Hitchen, Citi Corporate Affairs, Australia and New Zealand.
She told Money Management that the division, headed up by Marcus Christoe since midway through last year, would “continue to focus on intermediated channels, including private banks, IFAs [independent financial advisers] and stockbrokers”.
Hitchen said that no further retrenchments were planned to follow from the merger.
She said she could not comment on the seniority or otherwise of the four sales positions made redundant.
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