Citigroup, the New York-based global bank, is set to lay off thousands of people from its worldwide investment-banking division, the Wall Street Journal said.

Staff losing their jobs are expected to be notified on Monday, the Journal said.

The job cuts are part of a plan to reduce about 10 per cent of the investment banking group's 65,000 staff, it said.

Citigroup officials have made no comment.

Citigroup, along with much of Wall Street, is recovering from bad investments after losing billions of dollars on mortgages and loans to already indebted people.

It was not immediately clear if the cuts were in addition to the 9,000 announced in April when it also reported a $5.1 billion first-quarter loss.

About 4,200 job cuts were also announced late last year.

Market deterioration

At the end of 2007 Citigroup had about 147,000 full-time employees.

Citigroup unveiled a three-year plan in May that included getting rid of more businesses, mortgages, property operations and jobs.

The bank called for shedding between $400 billion and $500 billion of its $2.2 trillion in assets over the next few years.

It also hoped to raise revenue by nine per cent as it tries to rebound from the huge losses due to the deterioration in the credit markets.

The bank said earlier this month it was closing the Old Lane Partners hedge fund that was co-founded by Vikram Pandit, the Citigroup chief executive.

The bank is shutting the fund just 11 months after it was acquired for more than $800 million.