Citigroup Says Bank Will Exit Mortgage Brokerage Business

Citigroup Inc., the third-largest U.S. lender by assets, plans to stop using brokers to originate mortgages and probably will cut jobs as it exits the business while banks grapple with the fallout from the housing collapse.

Most of the 300 employees tied to the brokerage business will be reassigned and job “discontinuances” may be in the “low double digits,” according to e-mails today from Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for the New York-based bank. Citigroup will focus on its own retail and correspondent channels, he said.