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Citi New Zealand - the local arm of US financial services giant Citigroup - has become the first local casualty as international institutions restructure in response to the credit crisis.
The company said yesterday it will downsize its local equities business, closing the Wellington research division and consolidating operations in Auckland.
"While there are expected to be cost savings from this property initiative, it will also appropriately size the business for the lower volumes in the current equity market," said Mark Fitzgerald, Citi's country officer for New Zealand.
Citi has 11 staff in Wellington but some may relocate to Auckland or Australia and a few service staff will remain in the capital. It is expected final job losses will be less than half a dozen.
Citigroup was one of the first institutions to write down its exposure to the credit crisis early this year and has been less dramatically affected than many of its rivals by the events of the past few weeks.
However in April - after reporting a US$5.1 billion ($6.68 billion) first-quarter loss - the company said it would reduce its worldwide staff by 9000. It had already announced 4200 job cuts in 2007. As of the end of last year, Citigroup had about 147,000 fulltime employees.
It is understood the local changes are part of the global restructuring initiative.
Citi New Zealand provides a range of corporate and investment banking and transactional services. It also provides services to institutional investors in the equities and fixed income markets, as well as currency and commodity hedging.
The company would continue to provide a full range of banking and securities services to its clients, Fitzgerald said.
