More Layoffs on the Way at Citigroup

It appears Citigroup is preparing for another, much larger set of layoffs after the 17,000 cuts earlier this year. This comes after failed CEO Charles Prince resigned earlier this month, with a typically hefty exit package. The ball is in the Federal Reserve's court, with their move expected to come next month.

Citing people with knowledge of the matter, CNBC said the total number of employees affected could be as high as 45,000. Citigroup currently employs 275,000 staff, according to its website.

A Citigroup spokesman said the bank was assessing ways to cut costs.

"We are engaged in a planning process in anticipation of our new CEO and our business heads are planning ways in which we can be more efficient and cost effective to position our businesses in line with economic realities. Any reports on specific numbers are not factual," the Citigroup spokesman told AFP.

The banking giant is reeling from its exposure to the US housing slump and a related credit squeeze.

The banking behemoth is also searching for a new chief executive officer after former CEO Charles Prince stepped down on November 5 as Citigroup revealed it was facing likely investment writeoffs of between eight and 11 billion dollars.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs believe the company could be forced to absorb eventual writeoffs of up to 15 billion in the coming quarters as the housing and credit markets show no sign of improving anytime soon.

Merrill Lynch CEO Gone After Covert Attempt to Sell

Merrill Lynch has suffered big losses since housing and credit woes hit rock bottom. CEO Stan O'Neal reported a $2.2 billion loss in the third quarter, as he wrote off almost eight billion. It was just last week that O'Neal tried to sell the company off to Wachovia without first talking with his board members. They were so upset about it that they were already going over possible replacements last week, so this comes to no surprise.

O'Neal is reported to of stepped down himself, but he knew his outing was just around the corner. Since he took over the company four years ago around 30,000 people have lost their jobs, and he's never been very popular among the financial community to say the least. He is the first CEO to be outed since the housing and mortgage woes. The stock was down today because of the uncertainty of who will succeed O'Neal, and no word yet on who that will be. He is set to receive a rather large exit package, and like all the other embattled CEOs in the past that didn't do their jobs well, plenty of people won't be happy about this, especially those 30,000 that don't have their jobs. But Mr. O'Neal seems to only be thinking of himself as always, as his exit statement only mentions his opportunities and gains from being with the company.

Merrill Lynch said O'Neal "decided to retire" and its board of directors had elected Alberto Cribiore, a member of the board since 2003, as interim non-executive chairman and chair of a search committee to recruit a new chief executive.

The firm said it would look within its ranks and elsewhere for a new CEO.

"Mr. O'Neal and the board of directors both agreed that a change in leadership would best enable Merrill Lynch to move forward and focus on maintaining the strong operating performance of its businesses, which the company last week reported were performing well, apart from subprime mortgages and CDOs (collaterized debt obligations)," Merrill Lynch said in a statement.