Vikram Pandit - chief executive officer (CEO) of the major US bank, which was founded in 1812 and now has around 200 million customers globally - revealed his company's intentions at a New York investor conference yesterday (6 December).
Mr Pandit explained these redundancies will take place throughout the next quarter as the lender needs to take action sooner rather than later to arrest its trend of declining revenues and high costs.
He went on to indicate this decision had been made on the basis that the financial services sector is facing an "extremely challenging operating environment" as an "unprecedented" combination of market uncertainty, economic weakness and major regulatory reforms take effect.
"These trends will likely significantly affect the competitive landscape in the coming years," he added.
By Claire Archer