Cover and table of contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year Ended

December 31, 2020

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Transition Period From

(Not Applicable)

Commission File Number 001-36636

(Exact name of the registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware						05-0412693
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)						(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

One Citizens Plaza, Providence, RI 02903

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

(401) 456-7000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class			Trading symbol(s)			Name of each exchange on which registered
Common stock, $0.01 par value per share			CFG			New York Stock Exchange
Depositary Shares, each representing a 1/40th interest in a share of 6.350% Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series D			CFG PrD			New York Stock Exchange
Depositary Shares, each representing a 1/40th interest in a share of 5.000% Fixed-Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series E			CFG PrE			New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. ☑ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. ☐ Yes ☑ No

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☑ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). ☑ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:

Large accelerated filer			☑			Accelerated filer			☐
Non-accelerated filer			☐			Smaller reporting company			☐
						Emerging growth company			☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). ☐ Yes ☑ No

The aggregate market value of voting stock held by nonaffiliates of the Registrant was $10,732,733,443 (based on the June 30, 2020 closing price of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. common shares of $25.24 as reported on the New York Stock Exchange). There were 425,106,419 shares of Registrant’s common stock ($0.01 par value) outstanding on February 1, 2021.

Documents incorporated by reference

Portions of Citizens Financial Group, Inc.’s proxy statement to be filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with Citizens Financial Group, Inc.’s 2021 annual meeting of stockholders (the “Proxy Statement”) are incorporated by reference into Part III hereof. Such Proxy Statement will be filed within 120 days of Citizens Financial Group, Inc.’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.

						Table of Contents
									Page
			Glossary of Acronyms and Terms						2
			Forward-looking Statements						5
			Part I.
			Item 1. Business						6
			Item 1A. Risk Factors						21
			Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments						35
			Item 2. Properties						35
			Item 3. Legal Proceedings						35
			Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures						35
			Part II.
			Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities						35
			Item 6. Selected Consolidated Financial Data						37
			Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations						39
			Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk						90
			Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data						91
			Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019						97
			Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018						98
			Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the Years Ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018						99
			Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity for the Years Ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018						100
			Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018						101
			Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements						103
			Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure						160
			Item 9A. Controls and Procedures						161
			Item 9B. Other Information						161
			Part III.
			Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance						161
			Item 11. Executive Compensation						161
			Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters						162
			Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence						162
			Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services						162
			Part IV.
			Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules						162
			Item 16. Form 10-K Summary						166
			Signatures						167

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GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS AND TERMS

The following is a list of common acronyms and terms we regularly use in our financial reporting:

AACL						Adjusted Allowance for Credit Losses
ACL						Allowance for Credit Losses: Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses plus Reserve for Unfunded Lending Commitments
Acquisitions						Refers to acquisitions after second quarter 2018, including Franklin American Mortgage Company, Clarfeld Financial Advisors, LLC, Bowstring Advisors LLC and Trinity Capital
AFS						Available for Sale
ALLL						Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses
ALM						Asset and Liability Management
AOCI						Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
ARRC						Alternative Reference Rates Committee
ASU						Accounting Standards Update
ATM						Automated Teller Machine
Bank Holding Company Act						The Bank Holding Company Act of 1956
Board or Board of Directors						The Board of Directors of Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
bps						Basis Points
Capital Plan Rule						Federal Reserve Regulation Y Capital Plan Rule
CARES Act						The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
CBNA						Citizens Bank, National Association
CCAR						Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review
CCB						Capital Conservation Buffer
CCMI						Citizens Capital Markets, Inc.
CECL						Current Expected Credit Losses (ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments)
CET1						Common Equity Tier 1
CET1 capital ratio						Common Equity Tier 1 capital divided by total risk-weighted assets as defined under the U.S. Basel III Standardized approach
CFPB						Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
CFTC						Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Citizens or CFG or the Company, we, us, or our						Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and its Subsidiaries
CLTV						Combined Loan-to-Value
CLO						Collateralized Loan Obligation
CMO						Collateralized Mortgage Obligation
COVID-19 pandemic						Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic
CRA						Community Reinvestment Act
CRE						Commercial Real Estate
DIF						Deposit Insurance Fund
Dodd-Frank Act						The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010
EAD						Exposure at Default
EGRRCPA						Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act
Elevated cash						Cash above targeted operating levels
EPS						Earnings Per Share
ESPP						Employee Stock Purchase Program
ERISA						Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
Exchange Act						The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

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FAMC						Franklin American Mortgage Company
Fannie Mae (FNMA)						Federal National Mortgage Association
FASB						Financial Accounting Standards Board
FDIA						Federal Deposit Insurance Act
FDIC						Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
FFIEC						Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council
FHLB						Federal Home Loan Bank
FICO						Fair Isaac Corporation (credit rating)
FINRA						Financial Industry Regulation Authority
FRB or Federal Reserve						Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and, as applicable, Federal Reserve Bank(s)
Freddie Mac (FHLMC)						Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
FTE						Fully Taxable Equivalent
FTP						Funds Transfer Pricing
GAAP						Accounting Principles Generally Accepted in the United States of America
GDP						Gross Domestic Product
GLBA						Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999
Ginnie Mae (GNMA)						Government National Mortgage Association
GSE						Government Sponsored Entity
HELOC						Home Equity Line of Credit
HTM						Held To Maturity
ICE						Intercontinental Exchange
Last-of-Layer						Last-of-layer is a fair value hedge of the interest rate risk of a portfolio of similar prepayable assets whereby the last dollar amount within the portfolio of assets is identified as the hedged item
LCR						Liquidity Coverage Ratio
LHFS						Loans Held for Sale
LGD						Loss Given Default
LIBOR						London Interbank Offered Rate
LIHTC						Low Income Housing Tax Credit
LTV						Loan to Value
MBS						Mortgage-Backed Securities
MD&A						Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Mid-Atlantic						District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia
Midwest						Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio
Modified AACL Transition						The Day-1 CECL adoption entry booked to ACL plus 25% of subsequent CECL ACL reserve build
Modified CECL Transition						The Day-1 CECL adoption entry booked to retained earnings plus 25% of subsequent CECL ACL reserve build
MSA						Metropolitan Statistical Area
MSRs						Mortgage Servicing Rights
NCOs						Net charge-offs
New England						Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont
NM						Not meaningful
NPLs						Nonaccrual loans
NSFR						Net Stable Funding Ratio
OCC						Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

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OCI						Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
OFAC						Office of Foreign Assets Control
Parent Company						Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (the Parent Company of Citizens Bank, National Association and other subsidiaries)
PD						Probability of Default
peers or peer regional banks						Comerica, Fifth Third, Huntington, KeyCorp, M&T, PNC, Regions, Truist and U.S. Bancorp
PPP						The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program
REIT						Real estate investment trust
ROTCE						Return on Average Tangible Common Equity
RPA						Risk Participation Agreement
SBA						United States Small Business Administration
SEC						United States Securities and Exchange Commission
SOFR						Secured Overnight Financing Rate
SVaR						Stressed Value at Risk
Tailoring Rules						Rules establishing risk-based categories for determining prudential standards for large U.S. and foreign banking organizations, consistent with the Dodd-Frank Act, as amended by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act
TDR						Troubled Debt Restructuring
Tier 1 capital ratio						Tier 1 capital, which includes Common Equity Tier 1 capital plus non-cumulative perpetual preferred equity that qualifies as additional tier 1 capital, divided by total risk-weighted assets as defined under the U.S. Basel III Standardized approach
Tier 1 leverage ratio						Tier 1 capital, which includes Common Equity Tier 1 capital plus non-cumulative perpetual preferred equity that qualifies as additional tier 1 capital, divided by quarterly adjusted average assets as defined under the U.S. Basel III Standardized approach
Total capital ratio						Total capital, which includes Common Equity Tier 1 capital, tier 1 capital and allowance for credit losses and qualifying subordinated debt that qualifies as tier 2 capital, divided by total risk-weighted assets as defined under the U.S. Basel III Standardized approach
VaR						Value at Risk
VIE						Variable Interest Entities

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements regarding potential future share repurchases and future dividends as well as the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on our business, operations, financial performance and prospects, are forward-looking statements. Also, any statement that does not describe historical or current facts is a forward-looking statement. These statements often include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,” “goals,” “targets,” “initiatives,” “potentially,” “probably,” “projects,” “outlook” or similar expressions or future conditional verbs such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” and “could.”

Forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of management, and on information currently available to management. Our statements speak as of the date hereof, and we do not assume any obligation to update these statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those contained in such statements in light of new information or future events. We caution you, therefore, against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. While there is no assurance that any list of risks and uncertainties or risk factors is complete, important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include the following, without limitation:

• Negative economic and political conditions that adversely affect the general economy, housing prices, the job market, consumer confidence and spending habits which may affect, among other things, the level of nonperforming assets, charge-offs and provision expense;

• The rate of growth in the economy and employment levels, as well as general business and economic conditions, and changes in the competitive environment;

• Our ability to implement our business strategy, including the cost savings and efficiency components, and achieve our financial performance goals;

• The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns and their effects on the economic and business environments in which we operate;

• Our ability to meet heightened supervisory requirements and expectations;

• Liabilities and business restrictions resulting from litigation and regulatory investigations;

• Our capital and liquidity requirements under regulatory capital standards and our ability to generate capital internally or raise capital on favorable terms;

• The effect of changes in interest rates on our net interest income, net interest margin and our mortgage originations, mortgage servicing rights and mortgages held for sale;

• Changes in interest rates and market liquidity, as well as the magnitude of such changes, which may reduce interest margins, impact funding sources and affect the ability to originate and distribute financial products in the primary and secondary markets;

• The effect of changes in the level of checking or savings account deposits on our funding costs and net interest margin;

• Financial services reform and other current, pending or future legislation or regulation that could have a negative effect on our revenue and businesses;

• A failure in or breach of our operational or security systems or infrastructure, or those of our third party vendors or other service providers, including as a result of cyber-attacks; and

• Management’s ability to identify and manage these and other risks.

In addition to the above factors, we also caution that the actual amounts and timing of any future common stock dividends or share repurchases will be subject to various factors, including our capital position, financial performance, risk-weighted assets, capital impacts of strategic initiatives, market conditions and regulatory and accounting considerations, as well as any other factors that our Board of Directors deems relevant in making such a determination. Therefore, there can be no assurance that we will repurchase shares from or pay any dividends to holders of our common stock, or as to the amount of any such repurchases or dividends. Further, statements about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on our business, operations, financial performance and prospects may constitute forward-looking statements and are subject to the risk that

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the actual impacts may differ, possibly materially, from what is reflected in those forward-looking statements due to factors and future developments that are uncertain, unpredictable and in many cases beyond our control, including the scope and duration of the pandemic, actions taken by governmental authorities in response to the pandemic, and the direct and indirect impact of the pandemic on our customers, third parties and us.

More information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found under Item 1A “Risk Factors”.

PART I