Citizens Financial Group Releases 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report

Announces it has joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF)

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: CFG or “Citizens”) today released its 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report, Creating a Brighter Tomorrow, highlighting the company’s enterprise-wide progress on its environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. In conjunction with the release of this year’s report, Citizens announced that it has joined PCAF, an industry collaborative working on a harmonized approach to assess and disclose greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with loans and investments.

“Citizens’ commitment to good corporate citizenship and responsible growth is a guiding factor in every decision we make,” said Bruce Van Saun, Citizens chairman and chief executive officer. “By committing ourselves to this journey, we create an opportunity to use our reach, innovation, and insights to create a more sustainable and inclusive future.”

The report, which again this year aligns with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) frameworks, notes a number of significant milestones related to Citizens’ sustainability efforts. In addition to the PCAF membership, these include progress toward targets to reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 30% by 2025 and 50% by 2035, as well as Citizens’ commitment later this year to issue its first climate report, which will be aligned to recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and will describe the company’s climate strategy and associated work in more detail.

The report also highlights Citizens’ ongoing efforts focused on creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization, as well as new offerings that increase transparency and accessibility. It describes the company’s commitment to the communities it serves – through philanthropy, community development loans and investments, mortgage lending in low- to moderate-income communities, loans to small businesses, and colleague volunteerism.

The full report and an infographic with highlights are available at: www.citizensbank.com/corporateresponsibility.

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $192.1 billion in assets as of March 31, 2022. 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 full-service customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,300 ATMs and approximately 1,200 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, Citizens offers 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 or visit us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

Forward-looking statements

“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This communication contains “forward-looking statements” — that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “seek,” “see,” “will,” “would,” or “target.” Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Uncertainties that could cause our actual results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statement. These or other uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. 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. 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, 2021 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 as filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.