CNBC said the move is aimed at soothing market concerns that Citigroup is not doing what needs to be done to deal with difficulties including deteriorating share prices. Citing people close to the company, the report said the precise dimensions of the job cuts were not known Saturday afternoon but the organization might cut almost 40,000 jobs from its international workforce, estimated at 350,000.

CBNC's source said Pandit will likely announce that the layoffs will take effect in the relatively short term -- perhaps during the next five or six months.

"The object here is for people to take notice," a source told CNBC. "The exact number is still a moving target but it will be dramatic."