FACTBOX-Financial companies cutting jobs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Banks and financial service companies with banking operations are in the process of cutting tens of thousands of jobs.

Some have said they are reducing staffing to lower their cost structures. Others are doing so because interest rate changes have made it more difficult to profit from lending. Still others are reacting to tightening credit conditions, especially for mortgage lending operations.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc, the consulting firm, said in August the U.S. financial industry has announced 87,962 job cuts this year, 75 percent more than in all of 2006. It said 35,830 of the cuts, or 41 percent, relate to housing market problems.

The following is a selection of U.S. financial companies that have set job cuts this year or are otherwise reducing staffing.

COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL CORP

Countrywide Financial Corp, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, plans to cut 10,000 to 12,000 jobs to cope with weakened housing demand, rising foreclosures and tightening credit markets.

The cuts amount to as much as 20 percent of the lender's work force and will be completed over the next three months. Some of the cuts have already been made, Countrywide said.

The reduction is by far the biggest announced in this year's U.S. housing downturn.

Countrywide, based in Calabasas, California, said the cuts would be mainly in mortgage production and in general and administrative support. It said banking, insurance and loan servicing operations would likely not be materially affected.

INDYMAC BANCORP INC

IndyMac Bancorp Inc, one of the largest independent U.S. mortgage lenders, plans to cut 1,000 jobs as defaults rise and loan volumes decline.

The cuts amount to 10 percent of the work force and will be made over the next few months, as lending volume falls by half and IndyMac emphasizes higher quality loans.

LEHMAN BROTHERS HOLDINGS INC

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said it will fire another 850 workers, or about 3 percent of its work force, as it scales back its mortgage lending efforts globally.

Lehman, the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States by market capitalization, said it will trim its U.S. and U.K. home loan operations and close its South Korean mortgage business.

The investment bank had previously said it would fire 1,200 workers as it shuttered its U.S. subprime mortgage lender, following an earlier announcement that it was cutting 400 U.S. subprime jobs.