ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
We are subject to a number of risks potentially impacting our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. As we are a financial services organization, certain elements of risk are inherent in our transactions and operations and are present in the business decisions we make. We, therefore, encounter risk as part of the normal course of our business and we design risk management processes to help manage these risks. Our success is dependent on our ability to identify, understand and manage the risks presented by our business activities so that we can appropriately balance revenue generation and profitability. These risks include, but are not limited to, credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, operational risk, model risk, technology, regulatory and legal risk and strategic and reputational risk. We discuss our principal risk management processes and, in appropriate places, related historical performance in the “Risk Governance” section in Item 7.
You should carefully consider the following risk factors that may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Other factors that could affect our business, financial condition and results of operation are discussed in the “Forward-Looking Statements” section above. However, there may be additional risks that are not presently material or known, and factors besides those discussed below, or in this or other reports that we file or furnish with the SEC, that could also adversely affect us.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 20
Risks Related to Our Business
We may not be able to successfully execute our business strategy.
Our business strategy is designed to maximize the full potential of our business and drive sustainable growth and enhanced profitability, and our success rests on our ability to maintain a high-performing, customer-centric organization; develop differentiated value propositions to acquire, deepen, and retain core customer segments; build excellent capabilities designed to help us stand out from our competitors; operate with financial discipline and a mindset of continuous improvement to self-fund investments; prudently grow and optimize our balance sheet; modernize our technology and operational models to improve delivery, organizational agility and speed to market; and embed risk management within our culture and our operations. Our future success and the value of our stock will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively implement our business strategy, including the cost savings and efficiency components, and achieve our financial performance goals, including through the integration of Investors and the HSBC branches. There are risks and uncertainties, many of which are not within our control, associated with each element of our strategy. If we are not able to successfully execute our business strategy, we may never achieve our financial performance goals and any shortfall may be material. See the “Business Strategy” section in Item 1 for further information.
Supervisory requirements and expectations on us as a financial holding company and a bank holding company and any regulator-imposed limits on our activities could adversely affect our ability to implement our strategic plan, expand our business, continue to improve our financial performance and make capital distributions to our stockholders.
Our operations are subject to extensive regulation, supervision and examination by the federal banking agencies (the FRB, the OCC and the FDIC), as well as the CFPB. As part of the supervisory and examination process, if we are unsuccessful in meeting the supervisory requirements and expectations that apply to us, regulatory agencies may from time to time take supervisory actions against us that may not be publicly disclosed. Such actions may include restrictions on our activities or the activities of our subsidiaries, informal (nonpublic) or formal (public) supervisory actions or public enforcement actions, including the payment of civil money penalties, which could increase our costs and limit our ability to implement our strategic plans and expand our business, and as a result could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. See the “Regulation and Supervision” section in Item 1 for further information.
Difficult economic conditions, including inflationary pressures or volatility in the financial markets would likely have an adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.
Robust demand, labor shortages and supply chain constraints have led to persistent inflationary pressures throughout the economy. In response to these inflationary pressures, the FRB has raised benchmark interest rates in recent months and may continue to raise interest rates in response to economic conditions, particularly a continued high rate of inflation. Amidst these uncertainties, including potential recessionary economic conditions, financial markets have continued to experience volatility. Changes in interest rates can affect numerous aspects of our business and may impact our future performance. See risk factor headed “Changes in interest rates may have an adverse effect on our profitability” below for more information on the risks associated with changes in interest rates.
Prolonged periods of inflation may impact our profitability by negatively impacting our costs and expenses, including increasing funding costs and expense related to talent acquisition and retention, and negatively impacting consumer demand and client purchasing power for our products and services. If significant inflation continues, our business could be negatively affected by, among other things, increased default rates leading to credit losses which could adversely impact our earnings and capital.
Any of the effects of these adverse economic conditions would likely have an adverse impact on our earnings, with the significance of the impact generally depending on the nature and severity of the adverse economic conditions.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 21
Changes in interest rates may have an adverse effect on our profitability.
Net interest income historically has been, and we anticipate that it will remain, a significant component of our total revenue. This is due to the fact that a high percentage of our assets and liabilities have been and will likely continue to be in the form of interest-bearing or interest-related instruments. Changes in interest rates can have a material effect on many areas of our business, including net interest income, deposit costs, loan volume and delinquency, and the value of our mortgage servicing rights. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors that are beyond our control, including general economic conditions and policies of various governmental and regulatory agencies and, in particular, the Federal Open Market Committee. Changes in monetary policy, including changes in interest rates, could influence not only the interest we receive on loans and securities and the amount of interest we pay on deposits and borrowings, but such changes could also affect our ability to originate loans and obtain deposits and the fair value of our financial assets and liabilities. If the interest rates on our interest-bearing liabilities increase at a faster pace than the interest rates on our interest earning assets, our net interest income may decline and, with it, a decline in our earnings may occur. Our net interest income and our earnings would be similarly affected if the interest rates on our interest earning assets declined at a faster pace than the interest rates on our interest-bearing liabilities.
We cannot control or predict with certainty changes in interest rates. Global, national, regional and local economic conditions, competitive pressures and the policies of regulatory authorities, including monetary policies of the FRB, affect interest income and interest expense. Although we have policies and procedures designed to manage the risks associated with changes in market interest rates, as further discussed under the “Risk Governance” section in Item 7, changes in interest rates still may have an adverse effect on our profitability.
If our ongoing assumptions regarding borrower or depositor behavior or overall economic conditions are significantly different than we anticipate, then our risk mitigation may be insufficient to protect against interest rate risk and our net income would be adversely affected.
Changes in the method pursuant to which the LIBOR and other benchmark rates are calculated and their planned discontinuance could adversely impact our business operations and financial results.
Many of our lending products, securities, derivatives, and other financial transactions utilize a benchmark rate, such as LIBOR, to determine the applicable interest rate or payment amount. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority and the ICE Benchmark Administration have announced that the publication of the most commonly used U.S. Dollar LIBOR tenors will cease to be provided or cease to be representative after June 30, 2023. The publication of all other LIBOR settings ceased to be provided or ceased to be representative as of December 31, 2021. The Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act (LIBOR Act), enacted in March 2022, provides a statutory framework to replace U. S. Dollar LIBOR with a benchmark rate based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) for contracts governed by U.S. law that have no fallbacks or fallbacks that would require the use of a poll or LIBOR-based rate, and in December 2022, the FRB adopted rules which identify different SOFR-based replacement rates for derivative contracts, for cash instruments such as floating-rate notes and preferred stock, for consumer loans, for certain government-sponsored enterprise contracts and for certain asset-backed securities. We continue to monitor market developments and regulatory updates related to the cessation of LIBOR, as well as collaborate with regulators and industry groups on the transition. As the transition from LIBOR is ongoing, there continues to be uncertainty as to the ultimate effect of the transition on the financial markets for LIBOR-linked financial instruments.
The discontinuation of a benchmark rate, changes in a benchmark rate, or changes in market perceptions of the acceptability of a benchmark rate, including LIBOR, could, among other things, adversely affect the value of and return on certain of our financial instruments or products, result in changes to our risk exposures, or require renegotiation of previous transactions. In addition, any such discontinuation or changes, whether actual or anticipated, could result in market volatility, increased compliance, legal and operational costs, and risks associated with customer disclosures and contract negotiations. Although the LIBOR Act includes safe harbors if the FRB-identified SOFR-based replacement rate is selected, these safe harbors are untested. As a result, and despite the enactment of the LIBOR Act, for the most commonly used U.S. Dollar LIBOR settings, the use or selection of a successor rate could also expose us to risks associated with disputes with customers and other market participants in connection with implementing LIBOR fallback provisions. For more information on our LIBOR transition, see the “Market Risk” section in Item 7.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 22
We could fail to attract, retain or motivate highly skilled and qualified personnel, including our senior management, other key employees or members of our Board, which could impair our ability to successfully execute our strategic plan and otherwise adversely affect our business.
A cornerstone of our strategic plan involves the hiring of highly skilled and qualified personnel. Accordingly, our ability to implement our strategic plan and our future success depends on our ability to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled and qualified personnel, including our senior management and other key employees and directors. The marketplace for skilled personnel is becoming more competitive, which means the cost of hiring, incentivizing and retaining skilled personnel may continue to increase. For example, the increase in remote and hybrid work arrangements has also increased competition for skilled personnel, and our current or future approach to in-office and remote-work arrangements may not meet the needs or expectations of current or prospective employees or may not be perceived as favorable as compared to the arrangements offered by other companies, which could adversely affect our ability to attract and retain skilled and qualified personnel. The failure to attract or retain, including as a result of an untimely death or illness of key personnel, or replace a sufficient number of appropriately skilled and key personnel could place us at a significant competitive disadvantage and prevent us from successfully implementing our strategy, which could impair our ability to implement our strategic plan successfully, achieve our performance targets and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Limitations on the manner in which regulated financial institutions, such as us, can compensate their officers and employees, including those contained in pending rule proposals implementing requirements of Section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Act, may make it more difficult for such institutions to compete for talent with financial institutions and other companies not subject to these or similar limitations. If we are unable to compete effectively, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected, perhaps materially.
Our ability to meet our obligations, and the cost of funds to do so, depend on our ability to access identified sources of liquidity at a reasonable cost.
Liquidity risk is the risk that we will not be able to meet our obligations, including funding commitments, as they come due. This risk is inherent in our operations and can be heightened by a number of factors, including an over-reliance on a particular source of funding (including, for example, secured FHLB advances), changes in credit ratings or market-wide phenomena such as market dislocation and major disasters. Like many banking groups, our reliance on customer deposits to meet a considerable portion of our funding has grown over recent years, and we continue to seek to increase the proportion of our funding represented by customer deposits. However, these deposits are subject to fluctuation due to certain factors outside our control, such as increasing competitive pressures for retail or corporate customer deposits, changes in interest rates and returns on other investment classes, or a loss of confidence by customers in us or in the banking sector generally which could result in a significant outflow of deposits within a short period of time. To the extent there is heightened competition among U.S. banks for retail customer deposits, this competition may increase the cost of procuring new deposits and/or retaining existing deposits, and otherwise negatively affect our ability to grow our deposit base. An inability to grow, or any material decrease in, our deposits could have a material adverse effect on our ability to satisfy our liquidity needs.
Maintaining a diverse and appropriate funding strategy for our assets consistent with our wider strategic risk appetite and plan remains challenging, and any tightening of credit markets could have a material adverse impact on us. In particular, there is a risk that corporate and financial institution counterparties may seek to reduce their credit exposures to banks and other financial institutions (for example, reductions in unsecured deposits supplied by these counterparties), which may cause funding from these sources to no longer be available. Under these circumstances, we may need to seek funds from alternative sources, potentially at higher costs than has previously been the case, or may be required to consider disposals of other assets not previously identified for disposal, in order to reduce our funding commitments.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 23
A reduction in our credit ratings, which are based on a number of factors, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Credit ratings affect the cost and other terms upon which we are able to obtain funding. Rating agencies regularly evaluate us, and their ratings are based on a number of factors, including our financial strength. Other factors considered by rating agencies include conditions affecting the financial services industry generally. Any downgrade in our ratings would likely increase our borrowing costs, could limit our access to capital markets, and otherwise adversely affect our business. For example, a ratings downgrade could adversely affect our ability to sell or market certain of our securities, including long-term debt, engage in certain longer-term derivatives transactions and retain our customers, particularly corporate customers who may require a minimum rating threshold in order to place funds with us. In addition, under the terms of certain of our derivatives contracts, we may be required to maintain a minimum credit rating or have to post additional collateral or terminate such contracts. Any of these results of a rating downgrade could increase our cost of funding, reduce our liquidity and have adverse effects on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our financial performance may be adversely affected by deterioration in borrower credit quality, particularly in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions, where our operations are predominately concentrated.
We have exposure to many different industries and risks arising from actual or perceived changes in credit quality and uncertainty over the recoverability of amounts due from borrowers is inherent in our businesses. Our exposure may be exacerbated by the geographic concentration of our operations, which are predominately located in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. The credit quality of our borrowers may deteriorate for a number of reasons that are outside our control, including as a result of prevailing economic and market conditions and asset valuation. The trends and risks affecting borrower credit quality, particularly in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions, have caused, and in the future may cause, us to experience impairment charges, increased repurchase demands, higher costs, additional write-downs and losses and an inability to engage in routine funding transactions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our framework for managing risks may not be effective in mitigating risk and loss.
Our risk management framework is made up of various processes and strategies to manage our risk exposure. The framework to manage risk, including the framework’s underlying assumptions, may not be effective under all conditions and circumstances. If the risk management framework proves ineffective, we could suffer unexpected losses and could be materially adversely affected.
One of the main types of risks inherent in our business is credit risk. An important feature of our credit risk management system is to employ an internal credit risk control system through which we identify, measure, monitor and mitigate existing and emerging credit risk of our customers. As this process involves detailed analyses of the customer or credit risk, taking into account both quantitative and qualitative factors, it is subject to human error. In exercising their judgment, our employees may not always be able to assign an accurate credit rating to a customer or credit risk, which may result in our exposure to higher credit risks than indicated by our risk rating system.
In addition, we have undertaken certain actions to enhance our credit policies and guidelines to address potential risks associated with particular industries or types of customers, as discussed in more detail under the “Risk Governance” and “Market Risk” sections in Item 7. However, we may not be able to effectively implement these initiatives, or consistently follow and refine our credit risk management system. If any of the foregoing were to occur, it may result in an increase in the level of nonaccrual loans and a higher risk exposure for us, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 24
Changes in our accounting policies or in accounting standards could materially affect how we report our financial results and condition.
From time to time, the FASB and SEC change the financial accounting and reporting standards that govern the accounting for our financial results and the preparation of our financial statements. These changes can be operationally complex to implement and can materially impact how we record and report our financial condition and results of operations. For example, in June 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (“CECL”), that substantially changed the accounting for credit losses on loans and other financial assets held by banks, financial institutions and other organizations. Upon adoption of CECL on January 1, 2020, we recognize credit losses on these assets equal to management’s estimate of credit losses over the full remaining expected life. We consider all relevant information when estimating expected credit losses, including details about past events, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts. As evidenced in the first half of 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, the standard introduces heightened volatility in provision for credit losses, given uncertainty in the accuracy of macroeconomic forecasts over longer time horizons, variances in the rate and composition of loan growth, and changes in overall loan portfolio size and mix. As a result, it is possible that our ongoing reported earnings and lending activity could be negatively impacted. For more information regarding CECL, see Note 6 in Item 8.
Our financial and accounting estimates and risk management framework rely on analytical forecasting and models.
The processes we use to estimate our inherent loan losses and to measure the fair value of financial instruments, as well as the processes used to estimate the effects of changing interest rates and other market measures on our financial condition and results of operations, depends upon the use of analytical and forecasting models. Some of our tools and metrics for managing risk are based upon our use of observed historical market behavior. We rely on quantitative models to measure risks and to estimate certain financial values. Models may be used in such processes as determining the pricing of various products, grading loans and extending credit, measuring interest rate and other market risks, predicting losses, assessing capital adequacy and calculating regulatory capital levels, as well as estimating the value of financial instruments and balance sheet items. Poorly designed or implemented models present the risk that our business decisions based on information incorporating such models will be adversely affected due to the inadequacy of that information. Moreover, our models may fail to predict future risk exposures if the information used in the model is incorrect, obsolete or not sufficiently comparable to actual events as they occur. We seek to incorporate appropriate historical data in our models, but the range of market values and behaviors reflected in any period of historical data is not at all times predictive of future developments in any particular period and the period of data we incorporate into our models may turn out to be inappropriate for the future period being modeled. In such case, our ability to manage risk would be limited and our risk exposure and losses could be significantly greater than our models indicated. In addition, if existing or potential customers believe our risk management is inadequate, they could take their business elsewhere. This could harm our reputation as well as our revenues and profits. Finally, information we provide to our regulators based on poorly designed or implemented models could also be inaccurate or insufficient. Some of the decisions that our regulators make, including those related to capital distributions to our stockholders, could be adversely affected due to their perception that the quality of the models used to generate the relevant information is insufficient.
The preparation of our financial statements requires the use of estimates that may vary from actual results. Particularly, various factors may cause our Allowance for Credit Losses to increase.
The preparation of audited Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make significant estimates that affect the financial statements. Our most critical accounting estimate is the ACL. The ACL is a reserve established through a provision for credit losses charged to expense and represents our estimate of expected credit losses within the existing loan and lease portfolio and unfunded lending commitments. The level of the ACL is based on periodic evaluation of the loan and lease portfolios and unfunded lending commitments that are not unconditionally cancellable considering a number of relevant underlying factors, including key assumptions and evaluation of quantitative and qualitative information.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 25
The determination of the appropriate level of the ACL inherently involves a degree of subjectivity and requires that we make significant estimates of current credit risks and future trends, all of which may undergo material changes. Changes in economic conditions affecting borrowers, the stagnation of certain economic indicators that we are more susceptible to, such as unemployment and real estate values, new information regarding existing loans, identification of additional problem loans and other factors, both within and outside our control, may require an increase in the ACL. In addition, bank regulatory agencies periodically review our ACL and may require an increase in the ACL or the recognition of further loan charge-offs, based on judgments that can differ from those of our own management. In addition, if charge-offs in future periods exceed the ACL—that is, if the ACL is inadequate—we will need to recognize additional provision for credit losses. Should such additional provision expense become necessary, it would result in a decrease in net income and capital and may have a material adverse effect on us. For more information regarding our use of estimates in preparation of financial statements, see Note 1 in Item 8 and the “Critical Accounting Estimates” section in Item 7.
Operational risks are inherent in our businesses.
Our operations depend on our ability to process a very large number of transactions efficiently and accurately while complying with applicable laws and regulations. Operational risk and losses can result from internal and external fraud; improper conduct or errors by employees or third parties; failure to document transactions properly or to obtain proper authorization; failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements and conduct of business rules; equipment failures, including those caused by natural disasters or by electrical, telecommunications or other essential utility outages; business continuity and data security system failures, including those caused by computer viruses, cyber-attacks against us or our vendors, or unforeseen problems encountered while implementing major new computer systems or upgrades to existing systems; or the inadequacy or failure of systems and controls, including those of our suppliers or counterparties. Although we have implemented risk controls and loss mitigation actions, and substantial resources are devoted to developing efficient procedures, identifying and rectifying weaknesses in existing procedures and training staff, it is not possible to be certain that such actions have been or will be effective in controlling each of the operational risks faced by us. Any weakness in these systems or controls, or any breaches or alleged breaches of such laws or regulations, could result in increased regulatory supervision, enforcement actions and other disciplinary action, and have an adverse impact on our business, applicable authorizations and licenses, reputation and results of operations.
The financial services industry, including the banking sector, is undergoing rapid technological change as a result of changes in customer behavior, competition and changes in the legal and regulatory framework, and we may not be able to compete effectively as a result of these changes.
The financial services industry, including the banking sector, is continually undergoing rapid technological change with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. In addition, new, unexpected technological changes could have a disruptive effect on the way banks offer products and services. We believe our success depends, to a great extent, on our ability to address customer needs by using technology to offer products and services that provide convenience to customers and to create additional efficiencies in our operations. However, we may not be able to, among other things, keep up with the rapid pace of technological changes, effectively implement new technology-driven products and services or be successful in marketing these products and services to our customers. As a result, our ability to compete effectively to attract or retain new business may be impaired, and our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected.
In addition, changes in the legal and regulatory framework under which we operate require us to update our information systems to ensure compliance. Our need to review and evaluate the impact of ongoing rule proposals, final rules and implementation guidance from regulators further complicates the development and implementation of new information systems for our business. Also, recent regulatory guidance has focused on the need for financial institutions to perform increased due diligence and ongoing monitoring of third-party vendor relationships, thus increasing the scope of management involvement and decreasing the efficiency otherwise resulting from our relationships with third-party technology providers. Given the significant number of ongoing regulatory reform initiatives, it is possible that we incur higher than expected information technology costs in order to comply with current and impending regulations. See “—Supervisory requirements and expectations on us as a FHC and a BHC and any regulator-imposed limits on our activities could adversely affect our ability to implement our strategic plan, expand our business, continue to improve our financial performance and make capital distributions to our stockholders.”
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 26
We are subject to a variety of cybersecurity risks that, if realized, could adversely affect how we conduct our business.
Information security risks for large financial institutions such as us have increased significantly in recent years in part because of the proliferation of new technologies, such as the internet and mobile banking to conduct financial transactions, and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, hackers, terrorists, nation-states, activists and other external parties. Third parties with whom we or our customers do business also present operational and information security risks to us, including security breaches or failures of their own systems. Risks relating to cyber-attacks on our vendors and other third parties, including supply chain attacks affecting our software and information technology service providers, have been rising as such attacks become increasingly frequent and severe. The possibility of employee error, failure to follow security procedures, or malfeasance also presents these risks, particularly given the recent trend towards remote work arrangements. Our operations rely on the secure processing, transmission and storage of confidential information in our computer systems and networks as well as in the third-party computer systems and networks used to provide products and services on our behalf. In addition, to access our products and services, our customers may use personal computers, smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices that are beyond our control environment. Although we believe that we have appropriate information security procedures and controls based on our adherence to applicable laws and regulations, industry standards and best practices, our technologies, systems, networks and our customers’ devices may be the target of cyber-attacks or information security breaches that could result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, theft, sale or loss or destruction of the confidential, and/or proprietary information of CFG, our customers, our vendors, our counterparties, or our employees. We are under continuous threat of loss or network degradation due to cyber-attacks, such as computer viruses, malicious or destructive code, phishing attacks, ransomware, and Distributed Denial of Service (“DDoS”) attacks. This is especially true as we continue to expand customer capabilities to utilize the Internet and other remote channels to transact business. Two of the most significant cyber-attack risks that we face are e-fraud and loss of sensitive customer data. Loss from e-fraud occurs when cybercriminals extract funds directly from customers’ or our accounts using fraudulent schemes that may include Internet-based funds transfers. We have been subject to a number of e-fraud incidents historically. We have also been subject to attempts to steal sensitive customer data, such as account numbers and social security numbers, through unauthorized access to our computer systems including computer hacking. Such attacks are less frequent but could present significant reputational, legal and regulatory costs to us if successful. We have implemented certain technology protections such as Customer Profiling and Set-Up Authentication to be in compliance with the FFIEC Authentication and Access to Financial Institution Services and Systems guidelines.
As cyber threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend significant additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our layers of defense or to investigate and remediate any information security vulnerabilities. System enhancements and updates may also create risks associated with implementing new systems and integrating them with existing ones. Due to the complexity and interconnectedness of information technology systems, the process of enhancing our layers of defense can itself create a risk of systems disruptions and security issues. In addition, addressing certain information security vulnerabilities, such as hardware-based vulnerabilities, may affect the performance of our information technology systems. The ability of our hardware and software providers to deliver patches and updates to mitigate vulnerabilities in a timely manner can introduce additional risks, particularly when a vulnerability is being actively exploited by threat actors. Cyber-attacks against the patches themselves have also proven to be a significant risk that companies will have to address going forward.
Despite our efforts to prevent a cyber-attack, a successful cyber-attack could persist for an extended period of time before being detected, and, following detection, it could take considerable time for us to obtain full and reliable information about the cybersecurity incident and the extent, amount and type of information compromised. During the course of an investigation, we may not necessarily know the full effects of the incident or how to remediate it, and actions and decisions that are taken or made in an effort to mitigate risk may further increase the costs and other negative consequences of the incident. Moreover, potential new regulations may require us to disclose information about a cybersecurity event before it has been resolved or fully investigated.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 27
The techniques used by cyber criminals change frequently, may not be recognized until launched and can be initiated from a variety of sources, including terrorist organizations and hostile foreign governments. These actors may attempt to fraudulently induce employees, customers or other users of our systems to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to data or our systems. In the event that a cyber-attack is successful, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected. For a discussion of the guidance that federal banking regulators have released regarding cybersecurity and cyber risk management standards, see the “Regulation and Supervision” section of Item 1.
We rely heavily on communications and information systems to conduct our business.
We rely heavily on communications and information systems to conduct our business. Any failure, interruption or breach in security of these systems, including due to hacking or other similar attempts to breach information technology security protocols, could result in failures or disruptions in our customer relationship management, general ledger, deposit, loan and other systems. Although we have established policies and procedures designed to prevent or limit the effect of the possible failure, interruption or security breach of our information systems, there can be no assurance that these policies and procedures will be successful and that any such failure, interruption or security breach will not occur or, if they do occur, that they will be adequately addressed. The occurrence of any failure, interruption or security breach of our information systems could require us to devote substantial resources (including management time and attention) to recovery and response efforts, damage our reputation, result in a loss of customer business, subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny, or expose us to civil litigation and possible financial liability. Although we maintain insurance coverage for information security events, we may incur losses as a result of such events that are not insured against or not fully covered by our insurance.
We rely on third parties for the performance of a significant portion of our information technology.
We rely on third parties for the performance of a significant portion of our information technology functions and the provision of information technology and business process services. For example, (i) unaffiliated third parties operate data communications networks on which certain components and services relating to our online banking system rely, (ii) third parties host or maintain many of our applications, including a commercial loan system, which is hosted and maintained by Automated Financial Systems, Inc., and our Mobile Digital Banking Application, which is hosted and maintained by Amazon Web Services, Inc., (iii) Fidelity Information Services, LLC maintains our core deposits system, (iv) Infosys Limited provides us with a wide range of information technology support services, including service desk, end user support, production application support, and private cloud support, and (v) Kyndryl, Inc. provides us with mainframe support services. The success of our business depends in part on the continuing ability of these (and other) third parties to perform these functions and services in a timely and satisfactory manner, which performance could be disrupted or otherwise adversely affected due to failures or other information security events originating at the third parties or at the third parties’ suppliers or vendors (so-called “fourth party risk”). For example, during 2021, there were a number of widely publicized cases of outages in connection with access to cloud service providers. We may not be able to effectively monitor or mitigate fourth-party risk, in particular as it relates to the use of common suppliers or vendors by the third parties that perform functions and services for us. If we experience a disruption in the provision of any functions or services performed by third parties, we may have difficulty in finding alternate providers on terms favorable to us and in reasonable time frames. If these services are not performed in a satisfactory manner, we would not be able to serve our customers well. In either situation, our business could incur significant costs and be adversely affected.
We are exposed to reputational risk and the risk of damage to our brands and the brands of our affiliates.
Our success and results depend, in part, on our reputation and the strength of our brands. We are vulnerable to adverse market perception as we operate in an industry where integrity, customer trust and confidence are paramount. We are exposed to the risk that litigation, employee misconduct, operational failures, the outcome of regulatory or other investigations or actions, press speculation and negative publicity, perception of our environmental, social and governance practices and disclosures, among other factors, could damage our brands or reputation. Our brands and reputation could also be harmed if we sell products or services that do not perform as expected or customers’ expectations for the product are not satisfied.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 28
Unpredictable catastrophic events, including pandemics, terrorist attacks, extreme weather events and other large-scale catastrophes, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.
The occurrence of catastrophic events, including pandemics, such as COVID-19, terrorists attacks, extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, or tornadoes, and other large-scale catastrophes could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations, including by affecting the stability of our deposit base, impairing the ability of our borrowers to repay outstanding loans, impairing the value of collateral securing loans, causing significant property damage or operational disruptions, resulting in loss of revenue or causing us to incur additional expenses.
For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has in the past negatively affected, and could in the future negatively affect, the global and U.S. economies, including by increasing unemployment levels, disrupting supply chains and businesses in many industries, lowering equity market valuations, decreasing liquidity in fixed income markets, and creating significant volatility and disruption in financial markets. This has in the past resulted in, and could in the future result in, higher and more volatile provisions for credit losses and has in the past adversely affected, and could in the future adversely affect, our noninterest income. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as our liquidity and capital profile, will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the scope and duration of the pandemic, any resurgence of COVID-19 cases and the emergence of new variants, the widespread availability, use and effectiveness of vaccines, actions taken by governmental authorities and other third parties in response to the pandemic and the direct and indirect impact of the pandemic on us, our clients and customers, our service providers and other market participants. As the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects us, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described herein.
Furthermore, although we maintain both business continuity and disaster recovery plans, if a terrorist attack, extreme weather event, or other catastrophe rendered both our production data center in Rhode Island and our recovery data center in North Carolina unusable, there can be no assurance that these plans and related capabilities will adequately protect us from such events, and our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected.
The effects of geopolitical instability, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, may adversely affect us and create significant risks and uncertainties for our business, with the ultimate impact dependent on future developments, which are highly uncertain and unpredictable.
Ongoing geopolitical instability, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has negatively impacted, and could in the future negatively impact, the global and U.S. economies, including by causing supply chain disruptions, rising prices for oil and other commodities, volatility in capital markets and foreign currency exchange rates, rising interest rates and heightened cybersecurity risks. The extent to which such geopolitical instability, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, adversely affects our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as our liquidity and capital profile, will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and unpredictable, including with respect to Russia’s invasion, the extent and duration of the invasion and economic sanctions imposed on Russia, and the immeasurable humanitarian toll inflicted on Ukraine. If geopolitical instability adversely affects us, it may also have the effect of heightening other risks related to our business.
Risks Related to Our Industry
Any deterioration in national economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is affected by national economic conditions, as well as perceptions of those conditions and future economic prospects. Changes in such economic conditions are not predictable and cannot be controlled. Adverse economic conditions, such as challenges in the global supply chain and recent inflationary trends, could require us to charge off a higher percentage of loans and increase the provision for credit losses, which would reduce our net income and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 29
We operate in an industry that is highly competitive, which could result in losing business or margin declines and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We operate in a highly competitive industry. The industry could become even more competitive as a result of reform of the financial services industry resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act and other legislative, regulatory and technological changes, as well as continued consolidation. We face aggressive competition from other domestic and foreign lending institutions and from numerous other providers of financial services, including non-banking financial institutions that are not subject to the same regulatory restrictions as banks and BHCs, securities firms and insurance companies, and competitors that may have greater financial resources.
With respect to non-banking financial institutions, technology and other changes have lowered barriers to entry and made it possible for non-banks to offer products and services traditionally provided by banks. For example, consumers can maintain funds that would have historically been held as bank deposits in brokerage accounts or mutual funds. Consumers can also complete transactions such as paying bills and/or transferring funds directly without the assistance of banks. In addition, the emergence, adoption and evolution of new technologies that do not require intermediation, including distributed ledgers such as digital assets and blockchain, as well as advances in robotic process automation, could significantly affect the competition for financial services. The process of eliminating banks as intermediaries, known as “disintermediation,” could result in the loss of fee income, as well as the loss of customer deposits and the related income generated from those deposits. Some of our non-bank competitors are not subject to the same extensive regulations we are and, therefore, may have greater flexibility in competing for business. As a result of these and other sources of competition, we could lose business to competitors or be forced to price products and services on less advantageous terms to retain or attract clients, either of which would adversely affect our profitability.
Climate change manifesting as physical or transition risks could adversely affect our operations, businesses and customers.
There is increasing global concern over the risks of climate change and related environmental sustainability matters. The physical risks of climate change include discrete events, such as flooding and wildfires, and longer-term shifts in climate patterns, such as extreme heat, sea level rise, and more frequent and prolonged drought. Such events could disrupt our operations or those of our clients, customers, or service providers, including through direct damage to assets and indirect impacts from supply chain disruption and market volatility.
We are also exposed to risks associated with the transition to a lower-carbon economy in response to concerns around climate change. Such risks may result from changes in policies, laws and regulations, technologies, or market preferences that are intended to address climate change. These changes could materially and negatively impact our or our customers’ business, results of operations, financial condition and our reputation, including as a result of our or our customers’ involvement in, or decision not to participate in, certain industries or projects associated with exacerbating climate change, as well as any decisions we make to continue to conduct or change our activities in response to considerations relating to climate change. Ongoing legislative or regulatory uncertainties and changes regarding climate risk management and practices may result in higher regulatory, compliance, credit and reputational risks and costs.
The conditions of other financial institutions or of the financial services industry could adversely affect our operations and financial condition.
Financial services institutions are typically interconnected as a result of trading, investment, liquidity management, clearing, counterparty and other relationships. Within the financial services industry, the default by any one institution could lead to defaults by other institutions. Concerns about, or a default by, one institution could lead to significant liquidity problems and losses or defaults by other institutions, as the commercial and financial soundness of many financial institutions are closely related as a result of these credit, trading, clearing and other relationships. Even the perceived lack of creditworthiness of, or questions about, a counterparty may lead to market-wide liquidity problems and losses or defaults by various institutions. This systemic risk may adversely affect financial intermediaries, such as clearing agencies, banks and exchanges with which we interact on a daily basis, or key funding providers such as the FHLBs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our access to liquidity or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 30
Risks Related to Regulations Governing Our Industry
As a financial holding company and a bank holding company, we are subject to comprehensive regulation that could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
As a FHC and a BHC, we are subject to comprehensive regulation, supervision and examination by the FRB. In addition, CBNA is subject to comprehensive regulation, supervision and examination by the OCC. Our regulators supervise us through regular examinations and other means that allow the regulators to gauge management’s ability to identify, assess and control risk in all areas of operations in a safe and sound manner and to ensure compliance with laws and regulations. In the course of their supervision and examinations, our regulators may require improvements in various areas. If we are unable to implement and maintain any required actions in a timely and effective manner, we could become subject to informal (nonpublic) or formal (public) supervisory actions and public enforcement orders that could lead to significant restrictions on our existing business or on our ability to engage in any new business. Such forms of supervisory action could include, without limitation, written agreements, cease and desist orders, and consent orders and may, among other things, result in restrictions on our ability to pay dividends, requirements to increase capital, restrictions on our activities, the imposition of civil monetary penalties, and enforcement of such actions through injunctions or restraining orders. We could also be required to dispose of certain assets and liabilities within a prescribed period. The terms of any such supervisory or enforcement action could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are a BHC that has elected to become a FHC pursuant to the Bank Holding Company Act. FHCs are allowed to engage in certain financial activities in which a BHC is not otherwise permitted to engage. However, to maintain FHC status, a BHC (and all of its depository institution subsidiaries) must be “well capitalized” and “well managed.” If a BHC ceases to meet these capital and management requirements, there are many penalties it would be faced with, including the FRB may impose limitations or conditions on the conduct of its activities, and it may not undertake any of the broader financial activities permissible for FHCs or acquire a company engaged in such financial activities without prior approval of the FRB. If a company does not return to compliance within 180 days, which period may be extended, the FRB may require divestiture of that company’s depository institutions. To the extent we do not meet the requirements to be a FHC in the future, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be unable to disclose some restrictions or limitations on our operations imposed by our regulators.
From time to time, bank regulatory agencies take supervisory actions that restrict or limit a financial institution’s activities and lead it to raise capital or subject it to other requirements. Directives issued to enforce such actions may be confidential and thus, in some instances, we are not permitted to publicly disclose these actions. In addition, as part of our regular examination process, our regulators may advise us to operate under various restrictions as a prudential matter. Any such actions or restrictions, if and in whatever manner imposed, could adversely affect our costs and revenues. Moreover, efforts to comply with any such nonpublic supervisory actions or restrictions may require material investments in additional resources and systems, as well as a significant commitment of managerial time and attention. As a result, such supervisory actions or restrictions, if and in whatever manner imposed, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations; and, in certain instances, we may not be able to publicly disclose these matters.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 31
The regulatory environment in which we operate continues to be subject to significant and evolving regulatory requirements that could have a material adverse effect on our business and earnings.
We are heavily regulated by multiple banking, consumer protection, securities and other regulatory authorities at the federal and state levels. This regulatory oversight is primarily established to protect depositors, the DIF, consumers of financial products, and the financial system as a whole, not our security holders. Changes to statutes, regulations, rules or policies, including the interpretation, implementation or enforcement of statutes, regulations, rules or policies, could affect us in substantial and unpredictable ways, including by, for example, subjecting us to additional costs, limiting the types of financial services and other products we may offer, limiting our ability to pursue acquisitions and increasing the ability of third parties, including non-banks, to offer competing financial services and products. In recent years, we, together with the rest of the financial services industry, have faced particularly intense scrutiny, with many new regulatory initiatives and vigorous oversight and enforcement on the part of numerous regulatory and governmental authorities. Legislatures and regulators have pursued a broad array of initiatives intended to promote the safety and soundness of financial institutions, financial market stability, the transparency and liquidity of financial markets, and consumer and investor protection. Certain regulators and law enforcement authorities have also recently required admissions of wrongdoing and, in some cases, criminal pleas as part of the resolutions of matters brought by them against financial institutions. Any such resolution of a matter involving us could lead to increased exposure to civil litigation, could adversely affect our reputation, could result in penalties or limitations on our ability to do business or engage in certain activities and could have other negative effects. In addition, a single event or issue may give rise to numerous and overlapping investigations and proceedings, including by multiple federal and state regulators and other governmental authorities.
We are also subject to laws and regulations relating to the privacy of the information of our customers, employees, counterparties and others, and any failure to comply with these laws and regulations could expose us to liability and/or reputational damage. As new privacy-related laws and regulations are implemented, the time and resources needed for us to comply with those laws and regulations, as well as our potential liability for non-compliance and our reporting obligations in the case of data breaches, may significantly increase.
While there have been significant revisions to the laws and regulations applicable to us that have been finalized in recent years, there are other rules to implement changes that have yet to be proposed or enacted by our regulators. The final timing, scope and impact of these changes to the regulatory framework applicable to financial institutions remains uncertain. For more information on regulations to which we are subject and recent initiatives to reform financial institution regulation, see the “Regulation and Supervision” section in Item 1.
We are subject to capital adequacy and liquidity standards, and if we fail to meet these standards our financial condition and operations would be adversely affected.
We are subject to several capital adequacy and liquidity standards. To the extent that we are unable to meet these standards, our ability to make distributions of capital will be limited and we may be subject to additional supervisory actions and limitations on our activities. See “Regulation and Supervision” in Item 1 and the “Capital and Regulatory Requirements” and “Liquidity” sections in Item 7, for further discussion of the regulations to which we are subject.
The Parent Company could be required to act as a “source of strength” to CBNA, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
FRB policy historically required BHCs to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to their subsidiary banks. The Dodd-Frank Act codified this policy as a statutory requirement. This support may be required by the FRB at times when we might otherwise determine not to provide it or when doing so is not otherwise in the interests of CFG or our stockholders or creditors, and may include one or more of the following:
•The Parent Company may be compelled to contribute capital to CBNA, including by engaging in a public offering to raise such capital. Furthermore, any extensions of credit from the Parent Company to CBNA that are included in CBNA’s capital would be subordinate in right of payment to depositors and certain other indebtedness of CBNA.
•In the event of a BHC’s bankruptcy, any commitment that the BHC had been required to make to a federal bank regulatory agency to maintain the capital of a subsidiary bank will be assumed by the bankruptcy trustee and entitled to priority of payment.
•In the event of impairment of the capital stock of CBNA, the Parent Company, as CBNA’s stockholder, could be required to pay such deficiency.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 32
The Parent Company depends on CBNA for substantially all of its revenue, and restrictions on dividends and other distributions by CBNA could affect its liquidity and ability to fulfill our obligations.
As a BHC, the Parent Company is a separate and distinct legal entity from CBNA, our banking subsidiary. The Parent Company typically receives substantially all of our revenue from dividends from CBNA. These dividends are the principal source of funds to pay dividends on our equity and interest and principal on our debt. Various federal and/or state laws and regulations, as well as regulatory expectations, limit the amount of dividends that CBNA may pay to the Parent Company. Also, our right to participate in a distribution of assets upon a subsidiary’s liquidation or reorganization is subject to the prior claims of the subsidiary’s creditors. In the event CBNA is unable to pay dividends to the Parent Company, it may not be able to service debt, pay obligations or pay dividends on its common stock. The inability to receive dividends from CBNA could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. See the “Supervision and Regulation” section in Item 1 and the “Capital and Regulatory Matters” section in Item 7.
From time-to-time, we may become or are subject to regulatory actions that may have a material impact on our business.
We may become or are involved, from time to time, in reviews, investigations and proceedings (both formal and informal) by governmental and self-regulatory agencies regarding our business. These regulatory actions involve, among other matters, accounting, compliance and operational matters, certain of which may result in adverse judgments, settlements, fines, penalties, injunctions or other relief that may require changes to our business or otherwise materially impact our business.
In regulatory actions, such as those referred to above, it is inherently difficult to determine whether any loss is probable or whether it is possible to reasonably estimate the amount of any loss. We cannot predict with certainty if, how or when such proceedings will be resolved or what the eventual fine, penalty or other relief, conditions or restrictions, if any, may be, particularly for actions that are in their early stages of investigation. The Parent Company may be required to make significant restitution payments to CBNA customers arising from certain compliance issues and also may be required to pay civil money penalties in connection with certain of these issues. This uncertainty makes it difficult to estimate probable losses, which, in turn, can lead to substantial disparities between the reserves we may establish for such proceedings and the eventual settlements, fines, or penalties. Adverse regulatory actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are and may be subject to litigation that may have a material impact on our business.
Our operations are diverse and complex and we operate in legal and regulatory environments that expose us to potentially significant litigation risk. In the normal course of business, we have been named, from time to time, as a defendant in various legal actions, including arbitrations, class actions and other litigation, arising in connection with our activities as a financial services institution, including with respect to alleged unfair or deceptive business practices and mis-selling of certain products. Certain of the actual or threatened legal actions include claims for substantial compensatory and/or punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages. In some cases, the entities that would otherwise be the primary defendants in such cases are bankrupt or in financial distress. Moreover, a number of recent judicial decisions have upheld the right of borrowers to sue lending institutions on the basis of various evolving legal theories, collectively termed “lender liability.” Generally, lender liability is founded on the premise that a lender has either violated a duty, whether implied or contractual, of good faith and fair dealing owed to the borrower or has assumed a degree of control over the borrower resulting in the creation of a fiduciary duty owed to the borrower or its other creditors or stockholders. This could increase the amount of private litigation to which we are subject. For more information regarding ongoing significant legal proceedings in which we may be involved, see Note 19 in Item 8.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 33
Compliance with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing rules involves significant cost and effort.
We are subject to rules and regulations regarding money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Monitoring compliance with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing rules can put a significant financial burden on banks and other financial institutions and poses significant technical challenges. Although we believe our current policies and procedures are sufficient to comply with applicable rules and regulations, we cannot guarantee that our anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing policies and procedures completely prevent situations of money laundering or terrorism financing. Any such failure events may have severe consequences, including sanctions, fines and reputational consequences, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Risks Related to our Common Stock
Our stock price may be volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment as a result.
You should consider an investment in our common stock to be risky, and you should invest in our common stock only if you can withstand a significant loss and wide fluctuation in the market value of your investment. The market price of our common stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to, among other things, the factors described in this “Risk Factors” section, and other factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors include:
•quarterly variations in our results of operations or the quarterly financial results of companies perceived to be similar to us;
•changes in expectations as to our future financial performance, including financial estimates by securities analysts and investors;
•our announcements or our competitors’ announcements regarding new products or services, enhancements, significant contracts, acquisitions or strategic investments;
•fluctuations in the market valuations of companies perceived by investors to be comparable to us;
•future sales of our common stock;
•additions or departures of members of our senior management or other key personnel;
•changes in industry conditions or perceptions; and
•changes in applicable laws, rules or regulations and other dynamics.
Furthermore, the stock markets have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market price of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. These broad market fluctuations, as well as general economic, systemic, political and market conditions, such as recessions, loss of investor confidence, interest rate changes or international currency fluctuations, may negatively affect the market price of our common stock.
If any of the foregoing occurs, it could cause our stock price to fall and may expose us to securities class action litigation that, even if unsuccessful, could be costly to defend and a distraction to management.
We may not repurchase shares or pay cash dividends on our common stock.
Holders of our common stock are only entitled to receive such dividends as our Board of Directors may declare out of funds legally available for such payments. Although we have historically declared cash dividends on our common stock, we are not required to do so and may reduce or eliminate our common stock dividend in the future. This could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Also, as a BHC, our ability to repurchase shares and declare and pay dividends is dependent on certain federal regulatory considerations, including the rules of the FRB regarding capital adequacy and dividends. Additionally, we are also generally required to receive the FRB’s approval for any dividends, share repurchases, or redemption of capital securities if we are required to resubmit our capital plan. Further, if we are unable to satisfy the capital requirements applicable to us for any reason, we may be limited in our ability to repurchase shares and declare and pay dividends on our capital stock. See the “Regulation and Supervision” section in Item 1, for further discussion of the regulations to which we are subject.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 34
“Anti-takeover” provisions and the regulations to which we are subject may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us, even if the change in control would be beneficial to stockholders.
We are a BHC incorporated in the state of Delaware. Anti-takeover provisions in Delaware law and our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, as well as regulatory approvals that would be required under federal law, could make it more difficult for a third party to take control of us and may prevent stockholders from receiving a premium for their shares of our common stock. These provisions could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and could reduce the amount that stockholders might get if we are sold.
Furthermore, banking laws impose notice, approval and ongoing regulatory requirements on any stockholder or other party that seeks to acquire direct or indirect “control” of an FDIC-insured depository institution. These laws include the Bank Holding Company Act and the Change in Bank Control Act.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
We lease seven operations centers in Boston, Medford, and Westwood, Massachusetts; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Franklin, Tennessee; Irving, Texas and Glen Allen, Virginia. We own two principal operations centers in Johnston and East Providence, Rhode Island. At December 31, 2022, our subsidiaries owned and operated a total of 59 facilities and leased an additional 1,293 facilities. We believe our current facilities are adequate to meet our needs. See Note 7 and Note 9 in Item 8 for more information regarding our premises and equipment, and leases, respectively.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Information required by this item is presented in Note 19 in Item 8 and is incorporated herein by reference.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CFG.” As of January 31, 2023, our common stock was owned by 7,306 holders of record (including Cede & Co.) and approximately 525,000 beneficial shareholders whose shares were held in “street name” through a broker or bank. Information relating to compensation plans under which our equity securities are authorized for issuance is presented in Item 12.
The following graph compares the cumulative total stockholder returns for our performance during the five-year period ended December 31, 2022 relative to the performance of the Standard & Poor’s 500® index, a commonly referenced U.S. equity benchmark consisting of leading companies from diverse economic sectors; the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index (“BKX”), composed of 24 leading national money centers, regional banks and thrifts; and a group of other banks that constitute our peer regional banks. The graph assumes a $100 investment at the closing price on December 31, 2017 in each of CFG common stock, the S&P 500 index, the BKX and the peer market-capitalization weighted average and assumes all dividends were reinvested on the date paid. The points on the graph represent the fiscal quarter-end amounts based on the last trading day in each subsequent fiscal quarter.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 35
This graph shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that Section, and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act.
Issuer Purchase of Equity Securities
Details of the repurchases of the Company’s common stock during the three months ended December 31, 2022 are included below:
(1) Includes shares repurchased to satisfy applicable tax withholding obligations in connection with an employee share-based compensation plan and the forfeiture of unvested restricted stock awards.
(2) On June 27, 2022, the Company announced that its Board of Directors increased the authorization of common share repurchases to $1.0 billion, which was an increase of $545 million above the $455 million of capacity remaining under the $750 million authorization on January 20, 2021.
On February 17, 2023, the Company announced that its Board of Directors increased the capacity under its common share repurchase program by an additional $1.15 billion. This is incremental to the $850 million of capacity remaining as of December 31, 2022 under the prior June 2022 authorization.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 36
Common stock share repurchases may be executed in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, including under Rule 10b5-1 plans and accelerated share repurchase and other structured transactions. The timing and exact amount of future share repurchases will be subject to various factors, including the Company’s capital position, financial performance, capital impacts of strategic initiatives, market conditions, receipt of required regulatory approvals and other regulatory considerations.
ITEM 6. RESERVED
Not applicable.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 37
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Page
Introduction 39
Financial Performance 40
Net Interest Income 41
Noninterest Income 44
Noninterest Expense 44
Provision for Credit Losses 45
Income Tax Expense 45
Business Operating Segments 45
Analysis of Financial Condition 47
Securities 47
Loans and Leases 48
Allowance for Credit Losses and Nonaccrual Loans and Leases 50
Deposits 55
Borrowed Funds 55
Capital and Regulatory Matters 56
Liquidity 59
Critical Accounting Estimates 62
Accounting and Reporting Developments 64
Risk Governance 65
Market Risk 67
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations 76
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 38
INTRODUCTION
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $226.7 billion in assets as of December 31, 2022. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, we offer a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. We help our customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and solutions. In Consumer Banking, we provide an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a full-service customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,400 ATMs and more than 1,100 branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, we offer a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com.
On February 18, 2022, CBNA completed the acquisition of the HSBC East Coast branches and national online deposit business. The transaction extends our physical presence and adds customers in several attractive markets, accelerating our national expansion strategy. The transaction includes 66 branches in the New York City metropolitan area, 9 branches in the Mid-Atlantic/Washington D.C. area, and 5 branches in Southeast Florida.
On April 6, 2022, Citizens completed the acquisition of all outstanding shares of Investors for a combination of stock and cash. The acquisition enhances Citizens’ banking franchise, adding an attractive middle market, small business and consumer customer base while building our physical presence in the Mid-Atlantic region with the addition of 154 branches located in the greater New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas and across New Jersey.
On June 8, 2022, Citizens completed the acquisition of DH Capital, a private investment banking firm serving companies in the internet infrastructure, software, IT services and communications sectors. This acquisition further strengthens our growing corporate advisory capabilities.
For additional information regarding these acquisitions see Note 2.
The following MD&A is intended to assist readers in their analysis of the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements and supplemental financial information. It should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, as well as other information contained in this document.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This document contains non-GAAP financial measures denoted as “Underlying” results. Underlying results for any given reporting period exclude certain items that may occur in that period which management does not consider indicative of our on-going financial performance. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors because they are used by management to evaluate our operating performance and make day-to-day operating decisions. In addition, we believe our Underlying results in any given reporting period reflect our on-going financial performance in that period and, accordingly, are useful to consider in addition to our GAAP financial results. We further believe the presentation of Underlying results increases comparability of period-to-period results.
Other companies may use similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures that are calculated differently from the way we calculate such measures. Accordingly, our non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similar measures used by such companies. We caution investors not to place undue reliance on such non-GAAP financial measures, but to consider them with the most directly comparable GAAP measures. Non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our results reported under GAAP.
Non-GAAP measures are denoted throughout our MD&A by the use of the term Underlying. Where there is a reference to these metrics in that paragraph, all measures that follow are on the same basis when applicable. For more information on the computation of non-GAAP financial measures, see “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations.”
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 39
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
Key Highlights
Net income decreased $246 million, with earnings per diluted common share down $1.06 to $4.10 compared to 2021.
Results reflect notable items of $352 million or $0.74 per diluted common share, net of tax benefit, compared to $78 million or $0.18 per diluted common share, net of tax benefit, in 2021.
Table 1: Notable Items
Less: notable items
Provision (benefit) for credit losses $474 $— $— $169 $305
Less: notable items
Provision (benefit) for credit losses ($411) $— $— $— ($411)
(1) Includes integration related costs associated with acquisitions for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, and mark-to-market losses on loans acquired from Investors classified as LHFS for the year ended December 31, 2022.
(2) Includes our TOP transformational and revenue and efficiency initiatives for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, income tax impacts related to legacy tax matters for the year ended December 31, 2022, and a pension settlement charge and compensation-related credit for the year ended December 31, 2021.
(3) Includes the initial provision for credit losses of $169 million tied to the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition. As required by purchase accounting, a fair value mark for performing loans including both credit and interest rate components is recorded in addition to the provision for credit losses expense, thus the credit exposure has been “double counted”.
•Net income available to common stockholders decreased $246 million to $2.0 billion compared to 2021.
◦On an Underlying basis, which excludes notable items, net income available to common stockholders of $2.3 billion was stable compared to 2021.
◦On an Underlying basis, earnings per diluted common share of $4.84 compared to $5.34 in 2021, driven primarily by $305 million in provision expense in 2022 versus a $411 million provision benefit in 2021.
•Total revenue increased $1.4 billion to $8.0 billion compared to 2021, driven by an increase of 33% in net interest income, including the impacts of the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition.
•The efficiency ratio of 61.0% compared to 61.4% in 2021.
◦On an Underlying basis, the efficiency ratio of 57.5% compared to 59.8% in 2021.
•ROTCE of 13.9% compared to 15.4% in 2021.
◦On an Underlying basis, ROTCE of 16.4%compared to16.0%.
•Tangible book value per common share of $27.88 decreased 19% from 2021.
For additional information regarding our financial performance, see “—Results of Operations — 2022 compared with 2021” included in this report.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 40
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS — 2022 compared with 2021
Net Interest Income
Net interest income is our largest source of revenue and is the difference between the interest earned on interest-earning assets (generally loans, leases and investment securities) and the interest expense incurred in connection with interest-bearing liabilities (generally deposits and borrowed funds). The level of net interest income is primarily a function of the difference between the effective yield on our average interest-earning assets and the effective cost of our interest-bearing liabilities. These factors are influenced by the pricing and mix of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities which, in turn, are impacted by external factors such as local economic conditions, competition for loans and deposits, the monetary policy of the FRB and market interest rates. For further discussion, refer to “—Market Risk — Non-Trading Risk,” and “—Risk Governance.”
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 41
Table 2: Major Components of Net Interest Income
Year Ended December 31,
Assets
Non-taxable investment securities 3 — 2.33 3 — 2.60 — (27)
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
(1) Net interest income and net interest margin is presented on a FTE basis using the federal statutory tax rate of 21%. The FTE impact is predominantly attributable to commercial and industrial loans for the periods presented.
Net interest income increased $1.5 billion, or 33%, compared to 2021, reflecting growth of 17% in interest-earning assets, driven by the impacts of the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition, and higher net interest margin.
Net interest margin on a FTE basis increased 38 basis points to 3.10% compared to 2021, reflecting higher earning-asset yields given higher market interest rates, partially offset by increased funding costs. Average interest-earning asset yields increased 71 basis points to 3.61%, while average interest-bearing liability costs increased 48 basis points to 0.78% compared to 2021.
Average interest-earning assets increased $27.6 billion, or 17%, compared to 2021. Interest earning assets increased, reflecting the impacts of the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition. Growth in commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, residential mortgage, home equity, and investments was partially offset by a decrease in cash held in interest-bearing deposits reflecting the deployment of elevated liquidity.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 42
Average deposits increased $21.6 billion, or 14%, compared to 2021, primarily attributable to the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition.
Average total borrowed funds increased $6.2 billion compared to 2021, given an increase in long-term and short-term FHLB borrowings driven by advances acquired from Investors and the funding of loan and security growth, partially offset by a decrease in senior debt.
Table 3: Changes in Net Interest Income Due to Average Volume and Average Rate
Year Ended December 31,
(in millions) Average Volume(1) Average Rate(1) Net Change
Interest Income
Interest-bearing cash and due from banks and deposits in banks ($7) $119 $112
Leases (6) 3 (3)
Loans held for sale, at fair value (38) 23 (15)
Other loans held for sale 46 (2) 44
Interest Expense
Total interest-bearing deposits 22 469 491
Short-term borrowed funds 17 5 22
(1) Volume and rate changes have been allocated on a consistent basis using the respective percentage changes in average balances and average rates.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 43
Noninterest Income
Table 4: Noninterest Income
Year Ended December 31,
(dollars in millions) 2022 2021 Change Percent
Trust and investment services fees 249 239 10 4
Foreign exchange and derivative products 188 120 68 57
Letter of credit and loan fees 159 156 3 2
Securities gains, net 9 10 (1) (10)
(1) Includes bank-owned life insurance income and other income for all periods presented.
Noninterest income decreased $126 million, or 6%, compared to 2021, highlighted by the following significant changes.
•Mortgage banking fees declined given lower production volumes and gain-on-sale margins, partially offset by higher servicing revenue.
•Foreign exchange and derivative products revenue increased reflecting growth in client hedging activity across foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity products.
•Capital markets fees decreased reflecting lower underwriting, merger and acquisition advisory, and loan syndication fees given challenging market conditions.
•Card fees increased driven by higher debit and credit card volumes.
•Trust and investment services fees increased driven by higher annuity fees.
•Other income declined driven by $31 million of mark-to-market losses on loans acquired from Investors classified as LHFS, partially offset by higher bank-owned life insurance and leasing income.
Noninterest Expense
Table 5: Noninterest Expense
Year Ended December 31,
(dollars in millions) 2022 2021 Change Percent
Noninterest expense increased $811 million, or 20%, compared to 2021, driven primarily by acquisition and integration-related costs, higher salaries and employee benefits and other operating expense associated with FDIC insurance, travel and advertising costs, partially offset by the benefit of efficiency initiatives.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 44
Provision for Credit Losses
The provision for credit losses is the result of a detailed analysis performed to estimate our ACL. The total provision for credit losses includes the provision for loan and lease losses and the provision for unfunded commitments. Refer to “—Analysis of Financial Condition — Allowance for Credit Losses and Nonaccrual Loans and Leases” for more information.
The credit provision expense of $474 million for 2022 includes the “double count” for the non-PCD loan CECL provision expense of $169 million tied to the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition and compares to a credit provision benefit of $411 million for 2021. In addition to the purchase accounting impacts from the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition, the provision expense for 2022 reflected deterioration in the forecasted macroeconomic environment, including an increased risk of recession. The credit provision benefit for 2021 reflected the strong economic recovery driven by highly accommodative fiscal and monetary policies in place during that time.
Income Tax Expense
Income tax expense of $582 million decreased $76 million compared to 2021. The effective income tax rate of 21.9% decreased from 22.1% compared to 2021, primarily driven by an increase in benefits from tax-advantaged investments, bank-owned life insurance, and other tax credits, partially offset by impacts from the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition.
Business Operating Segments
We have two business operating segments: Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. Segment results are determined based on our management reporting system, which assigns balance sheet and statement of operations items to each of the business segments. The process is designed around our organizational and management structure. The results derived are not necessarily comparable with similar information published by other financial institutions.
Developing and applying methodologies used to allocate items among the business operating segments is a dynamic process. Accordingly, financial results may be revised periodically as management systems are enhanced, methods of evaluating performance or product lines are updated, or our organizational structure changes.
For more information regarding our business operating segments see Note 26.
The following table presents certain financial data of our business operating segments. Total business operating segment financial results differ from total consolidated financial results. These differences are reflected in Other non-segment operations.
Table 6: Selected Financial Data for Business Operating Segments
Consumer Banking Commercial Banking
Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,
Average Balances:
(1) Includes LHFS.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 45
Consumer Banking
Net interest income increased $481 million, or 14%, compared to 2021, driven by higher net interest margin and growth in average interest-earning assets, including the impacts of the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition. This increase was partially offset by a reduction in PPP loans and higher funding costs. Average loans increased $9.4 billion, or 13%, compared to 2021, reflecting the impacts of the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition, as well as strength in mortgage and home equity. This increase was partially offset by a decline in PPP loans and planned runoff in auto and personal unsecured installment loans. Average deposits increased $14.3 billion, or 14%, compared to 2021, reflecting the impacts of the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition.
Noninterest income decreased $160 million, or 13%, compared to 2021, driven by lower mortgage banking fees reflecting lower gain-on-sale margins and production volumes, partially offset by higher servicing revenue. This decrease was partially offset by higher card fees given higher transaction volumes, and higher trust and investment services fees given higher annuity fees.
Noninterest expense increased $404 million, or 14%, compared to 2021, driven primarily by acquisition impacts, higher salaries and employee benefits and other operating expense associated with FDIC insurance, travel and advertising costs, partially offset by the benefit of efficiency initiatives
Net charge-offs increased $41 million, or 22%, compared to 2021, reflecting the normalization of the credit cycle.
Commercial Banking
Net interest income increased $397 million, or 23%, compared to 2021, driven by higher net interest margin and growth in average interest-earning assets, including the impact of the Investors acquisition. This increase was partially offset by higher funding costs.
Noninterest income increased $36 million, or 4%, compared to 2021, driven by higher foreign exchange and derivative products revenue reflecting growth in client hedging activity across foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity products, higher service charges and fees reflecting the benefit of acquisitions, and higher card fees given higher transaction volumes. This increase was partially offset by lower capital markets fees reflecting lower underwriting, merger and acquisition advisory, and loan syndication fees given challenging market conditions.
Noninterest expense increased$250 million, or 26%, compared to 2021, driven primarily by acquisition impacts, higher salaries and employee benefits and other operating expense associated with FDIC insurance, travel and advertising costs, partially offset by the benefit of efficiency initiatives.
Net charge-offs decreased $110 million, or 71%, compared to 2021, as credit performance remained strong.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS — 2021 compared with 2020
For a description of our results of operations for 2021, see the “Results of Operations — 2021 compared with 2020” section of Item 7 in our 2021 Form 10-K.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 46
ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION
Securities
Table 7: Amortized Cost and Fair Value of AFS and HTM Securities
(in millions) Amortized Cost Fair Value Amortized Cost Fair Value
State and political subdivisions 2 2 2 2
Mortgage-backed securities:
Mortgage-backed securities:
Our securities portfolio is managed to maintain prudent levels of liquidity, credit quality, and market risk while achieving returns that align with our overall portfolio management strategy. The portfolio primarily includes high quality, highly liquid investments reflecting our ongoing commitment to maintain strong contingent liquidity levels and pledging capacity. As of December 31, 2022, U.S. government-guaranteed notes and GSE-issued mortgage-backed securities represent 94% of the fair value of our debt securities portfolio holdings. Holdings backed by mortgages dominate our portfolio and facilitate our ability to pledge those securities to the FHLB for collateral purposes.
The fair value of the debt securities portfolio increased $4.7 billion from December 31, 2021, driven in large part by the Investors acquisition as well as net securities purchases.
The amortized cost basis of the HTM portfolio increased $7.6 billion due to the transfer of $8.5 billion from the AFS portfolio during 2022, offset in part by paydowns. The ratio of HTM securities to total securities increased to 29% as of December 31, 2022.
We manage our securities portfolio duration and convexity risk through asset selection and securities structure, and maintain duration levels within our risk appetite in the context of the broader interest rate risk framework and limits. As of December 31, 2022, the portfolio’s average effective duration was 5.8 years compared to 4.3 years as of December 31, 2021, as higher long-term rates drove a decrease in both actual and projected securities prepayment speeds.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 47
Table 8: Amortized Cost of AFS and HTM Securities by Contractual Maturity
Distribution of Maturities(1)
Amortized cost:
State and political subdivisions — 5.25 — — — — 2 2.60 2 2.68
Mortgage-backed securities:
Mortgage-backed securities:
(1) Actual maturities may differ from contractual maturities because issuers may have the right to call or prepay obligations with or without incurring penalties.
(2) The weighted-average yield is computed based on a constant effective interest rate over the contractual life of each security and considers the contractual
coupon, amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Yields exclude the impact of related hedging derivatives.
Loans and Leases
Table 9: Composition of Loans and Leases, Excluding LHFS
December 31,
(dollars in millions) 2022 2021 Change Percent
Total loans and leases increased $28.5 billion from $128.2 billion as of December 31, 2021, primarily driven by the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition, resulting in growth in commercial and retail of 36% and 10%, respectively.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 48
Table 10: Fixed and Variable Rate Loans and Leases by Maturity
Fixed rate:
Variable rate:
Fixed rate:
Variable rate:
Automobile — — — — —
(1) Includes $31.3 billion of floating-rate commercial loans hedged to fixed rate to manage our exposure to the variability in interest cash flows.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 49
Allowance for Credit Losses and Nonaccrual Loans and Leases
The ACL is a reserve to absorb estimated future credit losses in accordance with GAAP. For additional information regarding the ACL, see “Critical Accounting Estimates — Allowance for Credit Losses” and Note 6.
The ACL of $2.2 billion at December 31, 2022 compared with an ACL of $1.9 billion as of December 31, 2021, reflecting a reserve increase of $306 million. For further information see Note 6.
Table 11: Allocation of the ALLL
December 31,
Table 12: ACL and Related Coverage Ratios by Portfolio
December 31,
Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses
Allowance for Unfunded Lending Commitments
Total allowance for unfunded lending commitments 257 176
(1) Coverage ratio includes total commercial allowance for unfunded lending commitments and total commercial allowance for loan and lease losses in the numerator and total commercial loans and leases in the denominator.
(2) Coverage ratio includes total retail allowance for unfunded lending commitments and total retail allowance for loan losses in the numerator and total retail loans in the denominator.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 50
Table 13: Nonaccrual Loans and Leases
December 31,
(dollars in millions) 2022 2021 Change Percent
Nonaccrual loans and leases to total loans and leases 0.60 % 0.55 % 5 bps
Allowance for credit losses to nonaccrual loans and leases 237 276 (39 %)
(1) Loans fully or partially guaranteed by the FHA, VA or USDA are classified as accruing.
Table 14: Ratio of Net Charge-Offs to Average Loans and Leases
December 31,
The NCO ratio decreased 8 basis points compared to 2021.
The retail NCO ratio remained relatively flat compared to 2021. The commercial NCO ratio decreased compared to 2021, as credit performance remained strong.
Commercial Loan Asset Quality
Our commercial portfolio consists of traditional commercial and industrial loans, commercial leases and commercial real estate loans. The portfolio is predominantly focused on customers in our footprint and adjacent states in which we have a physical presence where our local delivery model provides for strong client connectivity. Additionally, we do business in certain specialized industry sectors on a national basis.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 51
We utilize regulatory classification ratings to monitor credit quality for commercial loans and leases. For more information on regulatory classification ratings see Note 6. The amortized cost basis of commercial loans and leases based on regulatory classification ratings is presented below:
Table 15: Commercial Loans and Leases by Regulatory Classification
Criticized
(in millions) Pass Special Mention Substandard Doubtful Total
Criticized
(in millions) Pass Special Mention Substandard Doubtful Total
Total commercial criticized balances of $5.5 billion at December 31, 2022 increased $2.3 billion compared with December 31, 2021. Commercial criticized as a percent of total commercial of 6.7% at December 31, 2022 increased from 5.4% at December 31, 2021.
Commercial and industrial criticized balances of $3.1 billion at December 31, 2022 increased from $2.2 billion at December 31, 2021, driven by the Investors acquisition, and the impact of the macroeconomic environment and interest rates. Commercial and industrial criticized as a percent of total commercial and industrial was 6.0% at December 31, 2022 and 5.0% at December 31, 2021. Commercial and industrial criticized loans represented 57% of total criticized loans at December 31, 2022 compared to 69% at December 31, 2021.
Commercial real estate criticized balances of $2.4 billion increased from $945 million at December 31, 2021, driven by the Investors acquisition, and the impacts of interest rates and return-to-office dynamics on the Office sector. Commercial real estate criticized as a percent of total commercial real estate increased to 8.2% at December 31, 2022 from 6.6% at December 31, 2021. Commercial real estate accounted for 43% of total criticized loans at December 31, 2022, compared to 29% at December 31, 2021.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 52
Table 16: Commercial Loans and Leases
Sector
Finance and insurance
Health, pharma, and social assistance 3,056 2 2,912 2
Professional, scientific, and technical services 3,067 2 2,665 2
Real estate and rental and leasing 1,542 1 739 —
Administrative and waste management services 1,710 1 1,396 1
Arts, entertainment, and recreation 1,587 1 1,189 1
Property type
(1) Includes deferred fees and costs.
(2) Excludes PPP loans of $121 million and $787 million as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Retail Loan Asset Quality
We utilize credit scores provided by FICO, which are generally refreshed on a quarterly basis, and payment and delinquency status to monitor credit quality for retail loans. Management believes FICO credit scores are the strongest indicator of potential credit losses over the contractual life of the loan. These scores represent current and historical national industry-wide consumer level credit performance data, which management considers to predict a borrower’s future payment performance. The largest portion of the retail portfolio is represented by borrowers located in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. However, we do lend selectively in areas outside the footprint, primarily in automobile finance and education lending.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 53
Table 17: Retail Loan Portfolio Analysis
Days Past Due and Accruing Days Past Due and Accruing
(1) 90+ days past due and accruing includes $316 million and $544 million of loans fully or partially guaranteed by the FHA, VA, and USDA at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
For more information on the aging of accruing and nonaccrual retail loans see Note 6.
Table 18: Retail Asset Quality Metrics
Average refreshed FICO for total portfolio 770 768
CLTV ratio for secured real estate(1) 50 % 56 %
Nonaccrual retail loans as a percentage of total retail 0.79 % 0.77 %
(1) The real estate secured portfolio CLTV is calculated as the mortgage and second lien loan balance divided by the most recently available value of the property.
Troubled Debt Restructurings
In the first quarter of 2020, the CARES Act and interagency guidance exempted from TDR classification COVID-related modified retail and commercial loans that met certain eligibility criteria. While relief provisions under the CARES Act expired on December 31, 2021, we generally do not consider loans that were modified before January 1, 2022 that met eligibility criteria under the CARES Act to be TDRs.
For additional information regarding TDRs see Note 6.
Table 19: Accruing and Nonaccrual Troubled Debt Restructurings
As a % of Accruing TDRs
Commercial real estate — — — 10 10
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 54
As a % of Accruing TDRs
Commercial and industrial $196 — % — % $74 $270
Commercial real estate 1 — — 9 10
(1) Includes $146 million and $98 million in 90+ days past due and accruing that are fully or partially guaranteed by the FHA, VA, and USDA at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Deposits
Table 20: Composition of Deposits
December 31,
(dollars in millions) 2022 2021 Change Percent
The increase in total deposits as of December 31, 2022 compared to December 31, 2021 is driven by $25.4 billion of period-end balances from the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition.
Total estimated uninsured deposits are $88.9 billionand $77.9 billion as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
(in millions) December 31, 2022
Three months or less $879
After three months through six months 33
After six months through twelve months 234
After twelve months 100
Total term deposits(1) $1,246
(1) Includes term deposits per account in excess of $250,000.
Borrowed Funds
Total borrowed funds of $15.9 billion as of December 31, 2022 increased $8.9 billion compared to December 31, 2021, primarily driven by FHLB advances acquired from Investors as part of the acquisition. For more information regarding our borrowed funds see “—Liquidity” and Note 13.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 55
CAPITAL AND REGULATORY MATTERS
As a BHC and FHC, we are subject to regulation and supervision by the FRB. Our banking subsidiary, CBNA, is a national banking association primarily regulated by the OCC. Our regulation and supervision continues to evolve as the legal and regulatory frameworks governing our operations continue to change. For more information, see the “Regulation and Supervision” section in Item 1.
Capital Adequacy Process
Our assessment of capital adequacy begins with our Board-approved risk appetite and risk management framework. This framework provides for the identification, measurement and management of material risks. Capital requirements are determined for actual and forecasted risk portfolios using applicable regulatory capital methodologies. The assessment also considers the possible impacts of approved and proposed changes to regulatory capital requirements. Key analytical frameworks, including scenario analysis and stress testing, supplement our base line forecast to help inform a range of potential outcomes. A governance framework supports our capital planning process, including capital management policies and procedures that document capital adequacy metrics and limits, as well as our Capital Contingency Plan and the active engagement of both the legal-entity boards and senior management in oversight and decision-making.
Forward-looking assessments of capital adequacy feed development of a single capital plan covering us and our banking subsidiary that is periodically submitted to the FRB. We prepare this plan in full compliance with the FRB’s Capital Plan Rule and we participate annually in the FRB’s horizontal capital review, which is the FRB’s assessment of specific capital planning areas, as part of their normal supervisory process.
Under the FRB’s Tailoring Rules, Category IV firms, such as us, are subject to biennial supervisory stress testing and are exempt from company-run stress testing and related disclosure requirements. The FRB supervises Category IV firms on an ongoing basis, including evaluation of the capital adequacy and capital planning processes during off-cycle years. Annually, the FRB requires us to submit a capital plan approved by our Board of Directors or one of its committees. We submitted our 2022 Capital Plan to the FRB on April 4, 2022, and must submit our 2023 Capital Plan by April 5, 2023. We expect the FRB to provide us with our preliminary SCB requirement in June 2023 and our final SCB requirement by August 31, 2023.The final SCB requirement will become effective on October 1, 2023 and will remain in effect until September 30, 2024. For more information, see the “Tailoring of Prudential Requirements” section in Item 1.
Under the SCB framework, the FRB will not object to capital plans on quantitative grounds and each firm is required to maintain capital ratios above the sum of its minimum and SCB requirements to avoid restrictions on capital distributions and discretionary bonus payments.
For Category IV firms, like us, the SCB will be re-calibrated with each biennial supervisory stress test and updated annually to reflect our planned common stock dividends. On August 4, 2022, the FRB announced, based on the results of the 2022 CCAR supervisory stress tests, that our SCB will remain at 3.4% through September 30, 2023. To incorporate the effects of the Investors acquisition on our capital requirements, the FRB will require that we participate in the 2023 CCAR supervisory stress test.
Regulations relating to capital planning, regulatory reporting, stress testing and capital buffer requirements applicable to firms like us are presently subject to rule-making and potential further guidance and interpretation by the applicable federal regulators. We will continue to evaluate the impact of these and any other prudential regulatory changes, including their potential resultant changes in our regulatory and compliance costs and expenses.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 56
Regulatory Capital Ratios and Capital Composition
Under the current U.S. Basel III capital framework, we and our banking subsidiary, CBNA, must meet the following specific minimum requirements: CET1 capital ratio of 4.5%, tier 1 capital ratio of 6.0%, total capital ratio of 8.0% and tier 1 leverage ratio of 4.0%. As a BHC, our SCB of 3.4% is imposed on top of the three minimum risk-based capital ratios listed above and a CCB of 2.5% is imposed on top of the three minimum risk-based capital ratios listed above for CBNA.
Under the U.S. Basel III rules, the CET1 deduction threshold for MSRs, certain deferred tax assets and investments in the capital of unconsolidated financial institutions is 25%. As of December 31, 2022, we did not meet the threshold for these additional capital deductions. MSRs or certain deferred tax assets not deducted from CET1 capital are assigned a 250% risk weight and investments in the capital of unconsolidated financial institutions not deducted from CET1 capital are assigned an exposure category risk weight.
In reaction to the COVID disruption, the federal banking regulators adopted a final rule relative to regulatory capital treatment of the ACL under CECL. This rule allowed electing banking organizations to delay the estimated impact of CECL on regulatory capital for a two-year period ending December 31, 2021, followed by a three-year transition period ending December 31, 2024. The three-year transition period will phase-in the reversal of the aggregate amount of the capital benefit provided during the initial two-year delay. On December 31, 2021, the aggregate amount of capital benefit was $384 million. The reduction in the capital benefit in 2022 was $96 million, or approximately 6 basis points.
The table below presents our actual regulatory capital ratios under the U.S. Basel III Standardized rules:
Table 22: Regulatory Capital Ratios Under the U.S. Basel III Standardized Rules
December 31, 2022 December 31, 2021 Required Minimum Capital Ratios(1)
(in millions, except ratio data) Amount Ratio Amount Ratio
(1) Represents minimum requirement under the current capital framework plus the SCB of 3.4%. The SCB is not applicable to the Tier 1 leverage ratio.
(2) Represents total average assets less certain amounts deducted from Tier 1 capital.
At December 31, 2022, our CET1 ratio increased, given the common stock issued in connection with the Investors acquisition and net income, partially offset by a $26.4 billion increase in RWA, higher goodwill and intangibles related to the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition, dividends and a decrease in the modified CECL transition amount as we entered the first year of the CECL three-year transition period. The Tier 1 capital ratio was flat compared to 2021. The total capital ratio increased due to the changes in the CET1 capital ratio described above, combined with a net increase in subordinated debt and AACL related to the Investors acquisition, partially offset by a reduction in the modified AACL transition amount. At December 31, 2022, our CET1 capital, tier 1 capital and total capital ratios were approximately 210 basis points, 170 basis points and 140 basis points, respectively, above their required minimums.
Both the Company and CBNA are subject to the standardized approach for determining RWA. At December 31, 2022, the Company’s RWA totaled $185.2 billion, up $26.4 billion from December 31, 2021, largely driven by the Investors acquisition.
As of December 31, 2022, the tier 1 leverage ratio was 9.3%, down from 9.7% at December 31, 2021, driven by an increase in quarterly adjusted average assets of $39.0 billion, partially offset by higher tier 1 capital.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 57
Table 23: Capital Composition Under the U.S. Basel III Capital Framework
Exclusions:
Modified CECL transitional amount 288 384
Debt and equity securities 2,771 156
Unamortized net periodic benefit costs 373 349
Deductions:
Goodwill, net of deferred tax liability (7,780) (6,733)
Other intangible assets, net of deferred tax liability (170) (66)
Deferred tax assets that arise from tax loss and credit carryforwards — —
Exclusions from tier 2 capital:
Modified AACL transitional amount (374) (498)
Allowance on PCD assets (126) —
Adjusted allowance for credit losses $1,740 $1,436
(1) As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the amount of non-qualifying subordinated debt excluded from regulatory capital was $367 million and $420 million, respectively. See Note 13 for more details on our outstanding subordinated debt.
Capital Transactions
We completed the following capital transactions during 2022:
•Repurchased $150 million of our outstanding common stock as part of our Board approved plan;
•Issued $400 million of 5.641% fixed-rate reset subordinated notes in the second quarter;
•Declared and paid quarterly common stock dividends of $0.39 per share in the first and second quarter and $0.42 in the third and fourth quarter, aggregating to $779 million; and
•Declared and paid preferred stock dividends aggregating to $113 million.
For additional detail regarding our common and preferred stock dividends see Note 17.
In June 2022, our Board of Directors increased our common share repurchase authorization to $1.0 billion, which was an increase of $545 million above the $455 million of capacity remaining under the prior $750 million January 2021 authorization. As of December 31, 2022 we had $850 million available for future share repurchases under this authorization. In July 2022, our Board of Directors approved a three-cent increase in our quarterly common stock dividend to $0.42 per share. All future capital distributions are subject to consideration and approval by our Board of Directors prior to execution. The timing and amount of future dividends and share repurchases will depend on various factors, including our capital position, financial performance, capital impacts of strategic initiatives, market conditions, receipt of required regulatory approvals and other regulatory considerations.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 58
Banking Subsidiary’s Capital
Table 24: CBNA's Capital Ratios Under the U.S. Basel III Standardized Rules
(in millions, except ratio data) Amount Ratio Amount Ratio
(1) Represents total average assets less certain amounts deducted from Tier 1 capital.
CBNA’s CET1 and tier 1 capital totaled $20.7 billion at December 31, 2022, up $3.6 billion from $17.0 billion at December 31, 2021. This increase related to a capital contribution from the Parent Company in connection with the Investors acquisition as well as CBNA’s net income, partially offset by higher goodwill and intangibles related to the HSBC transaction and Investors acquisition, a dividend payment to the Parent Company and a decrease in the modified CECL transition amount as we entered the first year of the CECL three-year transition period. Total capital was $23.5 billion at December 31, 2022, an increase of $3.9 billion from $19.6 billion at December 31, 2021, driven by the change in CET1 capital and an increase in AACL related to the Investors acquisition, partially offset by a reduction in the modified AACL transition amount.
CBNA’s RWA totaled $184.8 billion at December 31, 2022, up $26.2 billion from December 31, 2021, largely driven by the Investors acquisition.
As of December 31, 2022, CBNA’s tier 1 leverage ratio remained flat at 9.4% as the increase in quarterly adjusted average assets was offset by higher tier 1 capital.
LIQUIDITY
We define liquidity as our ability to meet our cash-flow and collateral obligations in a timely manner, at a reasonable cost. An institution, such as us, must maintain operating liquidity to meet expected daily and forecasted cash-flow requirements, as well as contingent liquidity to meet unexpected (stress scenario) funding requirements. Reflecting the importance of meeting all unexpected and stress-scenario funding requirements, we identify and manage contingent liquidity, consisting of cash balances at the FRB, unencumbered high-quality liquid securities and unused FHLB borrowing capacity. Separately, we also identify and manage asset liquidity as a subset of contingent liquidity, consisting of cash balances at the FRB and unencumbered high-quality liquid securities. We consider the effective and prudent management of liquidity fundamental to our health and strength. We manage liquidity at the consolidated enterprise level and at each material legal entity, including at the Parent Company and CBNA level.
Parent Company Liquidity
Our Parent Company’s primary sources of cash are dividends and interest received from CBNA resulting from investing in bank equity and subordinated debt as well as externally issued preferred stock, senior debt and subordinated debt. Uses of cash include the routine cash flow requirements as a bank holding company, including periodic share repurchases and payments of dividends, interest and expenses; the needs of subsidiaries, including CBNA for additional equity and, as required, its need for debt financing; and the support for extraordinary funding requirements when necessary. To the extent the Parent Company has relied on wholesale borrowings, uses also include payments of related principal and interest.
During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Parent Company issued $400 million of 5.641% fixed-rate reset subordinated notes.
During the years ended December 31, 2022and 2021, the Parent Company declared dividends on common stock of $779 million and $670 million, respectively, and declared dividends on preferred stock of $113 million.
During the years ended December 31, 2022and 2021, the Parent Company repurchased $153 million and $295 million, respectively, of its outstanding common stock.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 59
Our Parent Company’s cash and cash equivalents represent a source of liquidity that can be used to meet various needs and totaled $1.6 billion and $2.3 billion as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The Parent Company’s double-leverage ratio (the combined equity investment in Parent Company subsidiaries divided by Parent Company equity) is a measure of reliance on equity cash flows from subsidiaries to fund Parent Company obligations. The Parent Company’s double-leverage ratio was 101.2% and 98.5% as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
CBNA Liquidity
As CBNA’s primary business involves taking deposits and making loans, a key role of liquidity management is to ensure that customers have timely access to funds from deposits and for loans. Liquidity management also involves maintaining sufficient liquidity to repay wholesale borrowings, pay operating expenses and support extraordinary funding requirements when necessary. In the ordinary course of business the liquidity of CBNA is managed by matching sources and uses of cash. The primary sources of bank liquidity include deposits from our consumer and commercial customers; payments of principal and interest on loans and debt securities; and wholesale borrowings, as needed, and as described under “—Liquidity Risk Management and Governance.” The primary uses of bank liquidity include withdrawals and maturities of deposits; payment of interest on deposits; funding of loans and related commitments; and funding of securities purchases. To the extent that CBNA has relied on wholesale borrowings, uses also include payments of related principal and interest. For further information on CBNA’s outstanding debt see Note 13.
During the year ended December 31, 2022, CBNA completed the following transactions:
•Issued $650 million of 4.119% fixed-to-floating rate senior notes;
•Issued $800 million of 4.575% fixed-to-floating rate senior notes;
•Issued $600 million of 6.064% fixed-to-floating rate senior notes; and
•Redeemed $1.0 billion and $750 million of senior notes due February and May 2022, respectively.
Liquidity Risk
We define liquidity risk as the risk that an entity will be unable to meet its payment obligations in a timely manner, at a reasonable cost. Liquidity risk can arise due to contingent liquidity risk and/or funding liquidity risk.
Contingent liquidity risk is the risk that market conditions may reduce an entity’s ability to liquidate, pledge and/or finance certain assets and thereby substantially reduce the liquidity value of such assets. Drivers of contingent liquidity risk include general market disruptions as well as specific issues regarding the credit quality and/or valuation of a security or loan, issuer or borrower and/or asset class.
Funding liquidity risk is the risk that market conditions and/or entity-specific events may reduce an entity’s ability to raise funds from depositors and/or wholesale market counterparties. Drivers of funding liquidity risk may be idiosyncratic or systemic, reflecting impediments to operations and/or damaged market confidence.
Factors Affecting Liquidity
Given the composition of assets and borrowing sources, contingent liquidity risk at CBNA would be materially affected by events such as deterioration of financing markets for high-quality securities (e.g., mortgage-backed securities and other instruments issued by the GNMA, FNMA and the FHLMC), by any inability of the FHLBs to provide collateralized advances and/or by a refusal of the FRB to act as a lender of last resort in systemic stress.
Similarly, given the structure of its balance sheet, the funding liquidity risk of CBNA would be materially affected by an adverse idiosyncratic event (e.g., a major loss, causing a perceived or actual deterioration in its financial condition), an adverse systemic event (e.g., default or bankruptcy of a significant capital markets participant), or a combination of both. Consequently, and despite ongoing exposure to a variety of idiosyncratic and systemic events, we view our contingent liquidity risk and our funding liquidity risk to be relatively low.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 60
An additional variable affecting our access to unsecured wholesale market funds and to large denomination (i.e., uninsured) customer deposits is the credit ratings assigned by such agencies as Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch.
Table 25: Credit Ratings
Moody’s Standard andPoor’s Fitch
Citizens Financial Group, Inc.:
Long-term issuer NR BBB+ BBB+
Short-term issuer NR A-2 F1
Subordinated debt NR BBB BBB
Preferred Stock NR BB+ BB
Citizens Bank, National Association:
Long-term issuer Baa1 A- BBB+
Short-term issuer NR A-2 F1
Long-term deposits A1 NR A-
Short-term deposits P-1 NR F1
NR = Not Rated
Changes in our public credit ratings could affect both the cost and availability of our wholesale funding. As a result, and in order to maintain a conservative funding profile, CBNA continues to minimize reliance on unsecured wholesale funding. At December 31, 2022, our wholesale funding consisted primarily of term debt issued by the Parent Company and CBNA, and collateralized advances from the FHLB.
Existing and evolving regulatory liquidity requirements represent another key driver of systemic liquidity conditions and liquidity management practices. The FRB, OCC, and FDIC regularly evaluate our liquidity as part of the overall supervisory process. In addition, we are subject to existing and evolving regulatory liquidity requirements, some of which are subject to further rulemaking, guidance and interpretation by the applicable federal regulators. For further discussion, see the “Regulation and Supervision — Tailoring of Prudential Requirements” and “—Liquidity Requirements” sections in Item 1.
Liquidity Risk Management and Governance
Liquidity risk is measured and managed by the Funding and Liquidity unit within our Treasury group in accordance with policy guidelines promulgated by our Board and the Asset Liability Committee. In managing liquidity risk, the Funding and Liquidity unit delivers regular and comprehensive reporting, including current levels versus threshold limits for a broad set of liquidity metrics and early warning indicators, explanatory commentary relating to emerging risk trends and, as appropriate, recommended remedial strategies.
Our Funding and Liquidity unit’s primary goals are to deliver and maintain prudent levels of operating liquidity to support expected and projected funding requirements, contingent liquidity to support unexpected funding requirements resulting from idiosyncratic, systemic, and combination stress events, and regulatory liquidity requirements in a timely manner from stable and cost-efficient funding sources. We seek to accomplish these goals by funding loans with stable deposits, by prudently controlling dependence on wholesale funding, particularly short-term unsecured funding, and by maintaining ample available liquidity, including a contingent liquidity buffer of unencumbered high-quality loans and securities. As of December 31, 2022:
•Organically generated deposits continue to be our primary source of funding, resulting in a consolidated period-end loans-to-deposits ratio, excluding LHFS, of 86.7%;
•Our total available liquidity, comprised of contingent liquidity and available discount window capacity, was approximately $72.3 billion;
•Contingent liquidity was $48.1 billion, consisting of unencumbered high-quality liquid securities of $27.6 billion, unused FHLB capacity of $11.5 billion, and our cash balances at the FRB of $9.0 billion; and
•Available discount window capacity was $24.2 billion, defined as available total borrowing capacity from the FRB based on identified collateral, which is primarily secured by non-mortgage commercial and retail loans. Use of this borrowing capacity would be considered only during exigent circumstances.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 61
For a summary of our sources and uses of cash by type of activity for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, see the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows in Item 8.
The Funding and Liquidity unit monitors a variety of liquidity and funding metrics and early warning indicators and metrics, including specific risk thresholds limits. These monitoring tools are broadly classified as follows:
•Current liquidity sources and capacities, including cash balances at the FRB, free and liquid securities, and secured FHLB borrowing capacity;
•Liquidity stress sources, including idiosyncratic, systemic and combined stresses, in addition to evolving regulatory requirements; and
•Current and prospective exposures, including secured and unsecured wholesale funding, and spot and cumulative cash-flow gaps across a variety of horizons.
Further, certain of these metrics are monitored individually for CBNA and for our consolidated enterprise on a daily basis, including cash position, unencumbered securities, asset liquidity and available FHLB borrowing capacity. In order to identify emerging trends and risks and inform funding decisions, specific metrics are also forecasted over a one-year horizon.
Contractual Obligations
In the ordinary course of business, we enter into contractual obligations that may require future cash payments, including customer deposit maturities and withdrawals, debt service, lease obligations and other cash commitments. For more information regarding these obligations, see Notes 9, 12 and 13.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We engage in a variety of activities that are not reflected in our Consolidated Balance Sheets that are generally referred to as “off-balance sheet arrangements.” For more information on these types of activities, see Note 19.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES
Our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to establish accounting policies and make estimates that affect amounts reported in our audited Consolidated Financial Statements.
An accounting estimate requires assumptions and judgments about uncertain matters that could have a material effect on our audited Consolidated Financial Statements. Estimates are made using facts and circumstances known at a point in time. Changes in those facts and circumstances could produce results substantially different from those estimates. Our most significant accounting policies and estimates and their related application are discussed below. See Note 1 for further discussion of our significant accounting policies.
Allowance for Credit Losses
The ACL increased from $1.9 billion at December 31, 2021 to $2.2 billion at December 31, 2022.
Our ACL as of December 31, 2022 accounts for an economic forecast over our two-year reasonable and supportable period with peak unemployment of approximately 6%, peak-to-trough GDP decline of approximately 1.4%, and collateral value peak-to-trough declines of approximately 13% in home and approximately 16% in used auto and truck. This forecast incorporates the increased risk of a moderate recession beginning in the fourth quarter of 2022 and persisting for four consecutive quarters. This compares to our December 31, 2021 forecast which reflected 2022 real GDP growth of 2.8% and an average unemployment rate of 6%, and 2023 real GDP growth of 2.1% and average unemployment rate of 4.3%.
Our determination of the ACL is sensitive to changes in forecasted macroeconomic conditions during the reasonable and supportable period. To illustrate the sensitivity, we applied a more pessimistic scenario than that described above which assumes that monetary tightening triggers a deeper real GDP contraction across our two-year reasonable and supportable forecast period, resulting in a 1.7% peak-to-trough decline in real GDP. Excluding consideration of qualitative adjustments, this scenario would result in a quantitative lifetime loss estimate of approximately 1.17x our modeled period-end ACL, or an increase of approximately $300 million. This analysis relates only to the modeled credit loss estimate and not to the overall period-end ACL, which includes qualitative adjustments.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 62
Because several quantitative and qualitative factors are considered in determining the ACL, this sensitivity analysis does not necessarily reflect the nature and extent of future changes in the ACL or even what the ACL would be under these economic circumstances. The sensitivity is intended to provide insights into the impact of adverse changes in the macroeconomic environment and the corresponding impact to modeled loss estimates. The hypothetical determination does not incorporate the impact of management judgment or other qualitative factors that could be applied in the actual estimation of the ACL and does not imply any expectation of future deterioration in our loss rates.
It remains difficult to estimate how changes in economic forecasts might affect our ACL because such forecasts consider a wide variety of variables and inputs, and changes in the variables and inputs may not occur at the same time or in the same direction, and such changes may have differing impacts by product types. The variables and inputs may be idiosyncratically affected by risks to the economy, including changing monetary and fiscal policies and their impact on inflationary trends, as well as continuing supply-chain challenges. Changes in one or multiple of the key macroeconomic variables may have a material impact to our estimation of expected credit losses.
For additional information regarding the ACL, see Note 1 and Note 6.
Fair Value
We asses the fair value of assets and liabilities by applying various valuation methodologies which often involve a significant degree of judgment, particularly when active markets do not exist for the items being valued. Quoted market prices are used to estimate the fair value of certain assets, such as trading assets, most investment securities, and residential real estate loans held for sale. Assumptions are used to estimate the fair value of items for which an observable active market does not exist. Examples of these items include loans, deposits, borrowings, goodwill, core deposit and other intangible assets, other assets and liabilities obtained or assumed in business combinations, capitalized servicing assets, pension and other postretirement benefit obligations, estimated residual values of property associated with leases, and certain derivative and other financial instruments.
Assumptions management uses to estimate the fair value of items for which an observable active market does not exist include discount rates, rates of return on assets, repayment rates, cash flows, default rates, costs of servicing and liquidation values. The use of different assumptions could produce significantly different estimates of fair value, which could have material positive or negative effects on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition or disclosures of fair value information.
In addition to valuation, we must assess whether there are any declines in value below the carrying value of assets that require recognition of a loss in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Examples include certain investments, capitalized servicing assets, goodwill and core deposit and other intangible assets, among others.
For additional information regarding our fair value measurements, see Notes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15 and 20 in Item 8.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 63
ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING DEVELOPMENTS
Accounting standards issued but not adopted as of December 31, 2022
Pronouncement Summary of Guidance Effects on Financial Statements
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 64
RISK GOVERNANCE
We are committed to maintaining a strong, integrated and proactive approach to the management of all risks to which we are exposed in pursuit of our business objectives. A key aspect of our Board’s responsibility as the main decision making body is setting our risk appetite to ensure that the levels of risk that we are willing to accept in the attainment of our strategic business and financial objectives are clearly understood.
To enable our Board to carry out its objectives, it has delegated authority for risk management activities, as well as governance and oversight of those activities, to a number of Board and executive management level risk committees. The Executive Risk Committee, chaired by the Chief Risk Officer, is responsible for oversight of risk across the enterprise and actively considers our inherent material risks, analyzes our overall risk profile and seeks confirmation that the risks are being appropriately identified, assessed and mitigated. Reporting to the Executive Risk Committee are the following committees covering specific areas of risk: Compliance and Operational Risk, Model Risk, Credit Policy, Asset Liability, Business Initiatives Review, and Conduct and Ethics.
Risk Framework
Our risk management framework is embedded in our business through a “Three Lines of Defense” model which defines responsibilities and accountabilities for risk management activities.
First Line of Defense
The business lines (including their associated support functions) are the first line of defense and are accountable for identifying, assessing, managing, and controlling the risks associated with the products and services they provide. The business lines are responsible for performing regular risk assessments to identify and assess the material risks that arise in their area of responsibility, complying with relevant risk policies, testing and certifying the adequacy and effectiveness of their operational and financial reporting controls on a regular basis, establishing and documenting operating procedures and establishing and owning a governance structure for identifying and managing risk.
Second Line of Defense
The second line of defense includes independent monitoring and control functions accountable for developing and ensuring implementation of risk and control frameworks and related policies. This centralized risk function is appropriately independent from the business and is accountable for overseeing and challenging our business lines on the effective management of their risks, including credit, market, operational, regulatory, reputational, interest rate, liquidity and strategic risks.
Third Line of Defense
Our Internal Audit function is the third line of defense providing independent assurance with a view of the effectiveness of our internal controls, governance practices, and culture so that risk is managed appropriately for the size, complexity, and risk profile of the organization. Internal Audit has complete and unrestricted access to any and all of our records, physical properties and personnel. Internal Audit issues a report following each internal review and provides an audit opinion to the Board’s Audit Committee on a quarterly basis.
Credit Review reports to the Chief Audit Executive and provides the legal-entity boards, senior management and other stakeholders with independent assurance on the quality of credit portfolios and adherence to agreed Credit Risk Appetite and Credit Policies and processes. In line with its procedures and regulatory expectations, the Credit Review function undertakes a program of portfolio testing, assessing and reporting through four Risk Pillars of Asset Quality, Rating and Data Integrity, Risk Management and Credit Risk Appetite.
Risk Appetite
Risk appetite is a strategic business and risk management tool. We define our risk appetite as the maximum limit of acceptable risk beyond which we could be unable to achieve our strategic objectives and capital adequacy obligations.
Our principal non-market risks include credit, operational, regulatory, reputational, liquidity and strategic risks. We are also subject to certain market risks which include potential losses arising from changes in interest rates, foreign exchange rates, equity prices, commodity prices and/or other relevant market rates or prices. Market risk in our business arises from trading activities that serve customer needs, including hedging of interest rates, foreign exchange risk and non-trading activities within capital markets. We have established
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 65
enterprise-wide policies and methodologies to identify, measure, monitor and report on market risk. We actively manage both trading and non-trading market risks. See “—Market Risk” for further information. Our risk appetite is reviewed and approved annually by the Board Risk Committee.
Credit Risk
Overview
Credit risk represents the potential for loss arising from a customer, counterparty, or issuer failing to perform in accordance with the contractual terms of the obligation. While the majority of our credit risk is associated with lending activities, we do engage with other financial counterparties for a variety of purposes including investing, asset and liability management, and trading activities. Given the financial impact of credit risk on our earnings and balance sheet, the assessment, approval and management of credit risk represents a major part of our overall risk-management responsibility.
Objective
The independent Credit Risk Function is responsible for reviewing and approving credit risk appetite across all lines of business and credit products, approving larger and higher risk credit transactions, monitoring portfolio performance, identifying problem credit exposures, and ensuring remedial management.
Organizational Structure
Management and oversight of credit risk is the responsibility of both the business line and the second line of defense. The second line of defense, the independent Credit Risk Function, is led by the Chief Credit Officer who oversees all of our credit risk. The Chief Credit Officer reports to the Chief Risk Officer. The Chief Credit Officer, acting in a manner consistent with Board policies, has responsibility for, among other things, the governance process around policies, procedures, risk acceptance criteria, credit risk appetite, limits and authority delegation. The Chief Credit Officer and team also have responsibility for credit approvals for larger and higher risk transactions and oversight of line of business credit risk activities. Reporting to the Chief Credit Officer are the heads of the second line of defense credit functions specializing in: Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, Citizens Restructuring Management, Portfolio and Corporate Reporting, ALLL Analytics, Current Expected Credit Loss, and Credit Policy and Administration. Each team under these leaders is composed of highly experienced credit professionals.
Governance
The primary mechanisms used to govern our credit risk function are our consumer and commercial credit policies. These policies outline the minimum acceptable lending standards that align with our desired risk appetite. Material changes in our business model and strategies that identify a need to change our risk appetite or highlight a risk not previously contemplated are identified by the individual committees and presented to the Credit Policy Committee, Executive Risk Committee and the Board Risk Committee for approval, as appropriate.
Key Management Processes
We employ a comprehensive and integrated risk control program to proactively identify, measure, monitor, and mitigate existing and emerging credit risks across the credit life cycle (origination, account management/portfolio management, and loss mitigation and recovery).
Consumer
On the Consumer Banking side of credit risk, our teams use models to evaluate consumer loans across the life cycle of the loan. Starting at origination, credit scoring models are used to forecast the probability of default of an applicant. When approving customers for a new loan or extension of an existing credit line, credit scores are used in conjunction with other credit risk variables such as affordability, length of term, collateral value, collateral type, and lien subordination.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 66
To ensure proper oversight of the underwriting teams, lending authority is granted by the second line of defense credit risk function to each underwriter. The amount of delegated authority depends on the experience of the individual. We periodically evaluate the performance of each underwriter and annually reauthorize their delegated authority. Only senior members of the second line of defense credit risk team are authorized to approve significant exceptions to credit policies. It is not uncommon to make exceptions to established policies when compensating factors are present. There are exception limits which, when reached, trigger a comprehensive analysis.
Once an account is established, credit scores and collateral values are refreshed at regular intervals to allow for proactive identification of increasing or decreasing levels of credit risk. Our approach to managing credit risk is highly analytical and, where appropriate, is automated to ensure consistency and efficiency.
Commercial
On the Commercial Banking side of credit risk, risk management begins with defined credit products and policies and is separated into commercial and industrial loans, CRE and leases. Within commercial and industrial loans and leases there are separate verticals established for certain specialty products (e.g., asset-based lending, leasing, franchise finance, health care, technology and mid-corporate). A “specialty vertical” is a stand-alone team of industry or product specialists. Substantially all activity that falls under the ambit of the defined industry or product is managed through a specialty vertical when one exists. CRE also operates as a specialty vertical.
Commercial transactions are subject to individual analysis and approval at origination and, with few exceptions, are subject to a formal annual review requirement. The underwriting process includes the establishment and approval of credit grades that confirm the PD and LGD. All material transactions then require the approval of both a business line approver and an independent credit approver with the requisite level of delegated authority. The approval level of a particular credit facility is determined by the size of the credit relationship as well as the PD. The checks and balances in the credit process and the independence of the credit approver function are designed to appropriately assess and sanction the level of credit risk being accepted, facilitate the early recognition of credit problems when they occur, and to provide for effective problem asset management and resolution. All authority to grant credit is delegated through the independent Credit Risk function and is closely monitored and updated regularly.
The primary factors considered in commercial credit approvals are the financial strength of the borrower, assessment of the borrower’s management capabilities, cash flows from operations, industry sector trends, type and sufficiency of collateral, type of exposure, transaction structure, and the general economic outlook. While these are the primary factors considered, there are a number of other factors that may be considered in the decision process. In addition to the credit analysis conducted during the approval process at origination and annual review, our Credit Review group performs testing to provide an independent review and assessment of the quality of the portfolio and new originations. This group conducts portfolio reviews on a risk-based cycle to evaluate individual loans and validate risk ratings, as well as test the consistency of the credit processes and the effectiveness of credit risk management.
The maximum level of credit exposure to individual credit borrowers is limited by policy guidelines based on the perceived risk of each borrower or related group of borrowers. Concentration risk is managed through limits on industry asset class and loan quality factors. We focus predominantly on extending credit to commercial customers with existing or expandable relationships within our primary markets, although we do engage in lending opportunities outside our primary markets if we believe that the associated risks are acceptable and aligned with strategic initiatives.
Substantially all loans categorized as Classified are managed by a specialized group of credit professionals.
MARKET RISK
Market risk refers to potential losses arising from changes in interest rates, foreign exchange rates, equity prices, commodity prices and/or other relevant market rates or prices. Modest market risk arises from trading activities that serve customer needs, including the hedging of interest rate and foreign exchange risk. As described below, more material market risk arises from our non-trading banking activities, such as the origination of loans and deposit-gathering. We have established enterprise-wide policies and methodologies to identify, measure, monitor and report market risk. We actively manage market risk for both non-trading and trading activities.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 67
Non-Trading Risk
Our non-trading banking activities expose us to market risk. This market risk is composed of interest rate risk, as we have no commodity risk and de minimis direct currency and equity risk. We also have market risk related to capital markets loan originations, as well as the valuation of our MSRs.
Interest Rate Risk
Interest rate risk emerges from the balance sheet after the aggregation of our assets, liabilities and equity. We refer to this non-trading risk embedded in the balance sheet as “structural interest rate risk” or “interest rate risk in the banking book.”