Citigroup Inc. to close two Portland offices

PORTLAND – A move to lower costs is prompting Citigroup Inc. to close two offices in Portland, resulting in a loss of 260 jobs. Those jobs will be moved elsewhere by next July.

A spokeswoman for the financial services company, Nina Das, said the move does not reflect on the Portland workers’ performance. The closures have to do with an overall move toward efficiency, Das said.

The spokeswoman added that affected employees have been offered jobs at Citigroup offices in other states.

Bank analyst Gerard Cassidy of RBC Capital Markets in Portland said the nation’s largest bank has been under increasing pressure from shareholders to lower operating expenses. Citigroup has more than 3,000 bank branches and finance offices in more than 100 countries.

Four years ago, Citigroup expanded its Global Transaction Services division to Portland. Earlier this month, Citigroup acquired The Bisys Group, which performs similar back-office tasks to those handled in Portland. Das said the decision to close the Portland offices was made independent of the $1.4 billion acquisition.