Citigroup sacks hundreds in London on bonuses day

The cuts came on the deadline set last week for managers to axe 4200 staff worldwide and fell in the trading, research and investment banking divisions. Respected London retail analyst Bruce Hubbard - renowned as Citigroup's most outspoken researcher, has left, as has UK head of sales David Parsons.

Said a Citi source: "A lot of bankers came in to work hoping to find out what their bonuses were going to be, only to be given the tin tack [sack]."

Most of the redundancies were handed out in the fixed income division, responsible for much of the bank's $24 billion (£12.3 billion) writedowns for subprime lending.

Another source said Citi had been laying off staff all week to meet today's redundancy deadline, laid down by new chief executive Vikram Pandit when he announced a $9.8 billion quarterly loss last week.

Financial News reported that Citi has also cut its research coverage of 200 companies.

Hubbard hit the headlines earlier this month when he said Woolworths shares were practically worthless, triggering a heavy sell-off in the market. He also took an early negative stance on Sports Direct, the controversial retailer that Citi helped float on the stock market.

A Citigroup spokesman confirmed that redundancies had happened but would not say how many.

Citi said it was paying out total bonuses similar to last year. Fixed income payouts are expected to be heavily down, although some areas, like mergers and acquisitions advice, will have bumper bonuses.

Staff at JPMorgan were also told their bonuses today, with most hoping for a good year after the bank avoided much of the subprime disaster.