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March 3, 2008

Citizens Financial Group names new CEO

Citizens Financial Group has appointed Ellen Alemany as its chief executive officer, a position held by Lawrence K. Fish from 1992 until last March.

Alemany already held the title of CEO of RBS America, a new organizational unit at the Royal Bank of Scotland that oversees all of the bank's U.S.-based divisions.

Alemany replaces Stephen D. Steinour, a longtime Fish deputy who served as Citizens' president and CEO for less than a year. In a statement, Citizens said Steinour had made a "personal decision" to "spend more time with his family."

Alemany has named James G. Connolly as Citizens' new president. Connolly had served as vice chairman of commercial markets.

The changes come after a second consecutive year of relatively flat earnings for Citizens.

Last year, operating profit at Citizens dropped 9 percent, to $2.65 billion, The Providence Journal reported. Net income was down 16 percent after the conversion to British pounds.

In announcing its 2007 earnings, RBS said the slowing U.S. economy was hurting the growth of Providence-based Citizens. "Against a weaker economic backdrop in the U.S., Citizens, whilst performing well relative to its peers, experienced testing conditions," RBS said in its earnings report.

In December, Fish told employees that he had given up his remaining operational responsibilities for the Royal Bank, The Providence Journal reported.

For more local breaking business news, visit the Biz Blog at projo.com/business.

Posted by Benjamin N. Gedan  at 2:27 PM | Permalink

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