Bank of America is cutting 3,500 jobs this quarter and working on a restructuring that could eliminate thousands of additional positions, the Wall Street Journal reported, adding to a slew of layoff by major banks.

Sensitive to the ups and downs of the global economic cycle, global banks have announced close to 50,000 job cuts, starting now and continuing in coming years.

HSBC <0005.HK> and Lloyds Banking Group have announced the biggest cuts.

The job cuts at Bank of America, expected to be completed by the end of September, are spread across the company including investment banking and trading, the Journal said citing people familiar with the situation.

Bank of America was not immediately available for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.

Thousands of additional reductions are expected as part of an overhaul known as Project New BAC, the WSJ said.

Executives at the bank still are discussing the possible range of cuts, but one person familiar with the situation said at least 10,000 jobs are likely to be eliminated, the report said.

Investors have hammered the bank's stock amid fears it may need to raise money by offering new shares to help absorb billions in legal and credit costs stemming from its 2008 purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp. Shares in the largest U.S. bank have more than halved from a peak above $15 a share in January, closed at $7.01 on Thursday.

Eager to shed assets and rebuild its battered capital base, Bank of America said on Monday it plans to sell its $8.6 billion Canadian credit card portfolio to TD Bank Group

.

Bank of America has lost more than $22 billion in its consumer mortgage division in the last four quarters.

It agreed in June to pay $8.5 billion to mortgage securities investors and is fighting numerous lawsuits challenging the settlement and other mortgage issues.

(Reporting by Soham Chatterjee in Bangalore; writing by Vinu Pilakkott; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

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