Citigroup intends to hire hundreds of employees in Japan this year to sell investment products to affluent customers, despite announcing at least 4,200 job cuts worldwide after posting a record loss in the last quarter. Fabio Fontainh, head of US bank's local retail banking unit, told Bloomberg that it plans to increase the number of branches in Japan from 31 to 50 and to sell, through its Citigold programme, more financial products to individuals with JPY10 million ($93,000) or more in savings. Citi has a chequered recent history in Japan. The bank re-listed its shares for trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in November 2007 after an almost decade-long hiatus. It was also forced to close its private banking business in Japan in September 2004 after regulators said the firm failed to conduct proper checks against money laundering. But last month the US firm completed the $14 billion acquisition of Tokyo-based Nikko Cordial, Japan's third-largest brokerage. Citigroup is competing with wealth managers HSBC and UBS, who are also opening new branches, to win a bigger share of the $14 trillion of financial assets held by Japanese households. HSBC opened its first two retail branches in Japan last month and plans to open seven more branches and hire 270 people by the end of the year. UBS opened its third branch in Japan in July, targeting sales to individuals with JPY200 million or more.