Citigroup has reportedly cut 15% of its Citi Prime Finance staff, including 14 members of its New York office. Five of those took severance packages; the rest were laid off.
 
As part of the downsizing, Citi’s prime brokerage group will no longer offer business consultancy services to hedge funds, Hedge Fund Alert reports. It remains committed to other services including clearing, securities lending, capital introduction and execution.

A call to Citi was not returned by press time.
 
In other firm news, Citigroup has named managing director Christopher Gammons as its head of private equity banking in Asia, replacing Christopher Laskowski, who is relocating to Chicago, where he will remain at Citigroup as a private equity banker.

Laskowski, who spent the last five years heading up the private equity banking group at Citigroup, will handle deals for mid-western based buyout firms and hedge funds, Reuters reports.