The bank will start negotiations with labour unions just after Easter, the newspaper report said.

A Caixabank spokesman, when asked about the newspaper report, said he could not confirm the number of any potential job cuts.

The bank is waiting for the merger to be legally done, in the coming days, to start talking to the unions, he said.

The merger, announced in September last year, will create Spain's largest domestic bank by assets.

(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska; Editing by Inti Landauro and Jane Merriman)