Employees are our greatest asset...except when they are our greatest liability...

So this story is moving on CNBC, and Citi is making only the limp, prepared statement denials. It appears that as many as 45,000 Citi employees will soon be introducing themselves as "recovering" bankers.

Citigroup Plans New Round Of 'Massive' Job Cuts - Financials * US * News * Story - CNBC.com

Expect these folks to be hitting the street before December 15, because that's the traditional day that banks close the books on the year's finances (I'm sure Citi wishes it could have closed those books back in August before the subprime market blew up like an exploding dye pack of stolen money). The more important reason to Citi to have these folks exit then is, as Charlie G. points out in the CNBC report, that will X them out of the bonus pool for the year, which is already likely to be microscopic.

And the bank also managed to sell another big chunk of its equity into the Middle East, to a venture fund owned by Abu Dhabi. It's so comforting to know that the largest bank in the U.S. is majority owned by interests that are not always aligned with those of the US economy or -- heaven forbid! -- US workers.

There is a silver lining, though. People at Citi with entry level titles like vice president and senior vice president will almost certainly end up as executive vice presidents at smaller community banks.