PROVIDENCE, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: CFG or “Citizens”) announced today that it will temporarily suspend its stock repurchase program through June 2020. This action is being taken to support the efforts of the Federal Reserve and other banks to moderate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by making additional capital and liquidity available to our customers - corporates, small businesses and individuals. This announcement does not impact our dividend policy.
Citizens maintains among the highest capital levels of its regional peers and has consistently passed the required Federal Reserve CCAR stress tests, demonstrating the ability to continue to support customers and the broader economy in the event of a severe economic downturn. Citizens is committed to supporting colleagues and the communities it serves during this challenging time, and will continue to take appropriate measures to maintain strong capital and liquidity levels.
About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $165.7 billion in assets as of December 31, 2019. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Citizens helps its 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, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a 24/7 customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 2,700 ATMs and approximately 1,100 branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers corporate, institutional and not-for-profit clients a full range of wholesale banking products and services, including lending and deposits, capital markets, treasury services, foreign exchange and interest rate products, and asset finance. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.
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 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;
- Our ability to meet heightened supervisory requirements and expectations;
- Liabilities and business restrictions resulting from litigation and regulatory investigations;
- Our capital and liquidity requirements (including under regulatory capital standards, such as the U.S. Basel III capital rules) 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, 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.
More information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.
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