CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP INC/RI
For the period ended Dec 31, 2025. Filed Feb 12, 2026.
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FY2025 · Filed Feb 12, 2026
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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 risks. As described below, the market risk arising from our non-trading banking activities, such as the origination of loans and deposit gathering, is more significant. 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.
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.”
A major source of structural interest rate risk is a difference in the repricing of assets relative to liabilities and equity. There are differences in the timing and drivers of rate changes reflecting the maturity and/or repricing of assets and liabilities. There may also be differences in the drivers of rate changes, as loans may be tied to a specific index rate such as SOFR or Prime, while deposits may not be as correlated with such rates and more dependent upon competitive demand. Due to these basis differences, net interest income is sensitive to changes in spreads between certain indices or repricing rates.
A primary source of our structural interest rate risk relates to faster repricing of floating-rate loans relative to core deposit funding. This source of asset sensitivity is more biased toward the short end of the yield curve. The secondary source of our interest rate risk is driven by longer term rates comprising the rollover or reinvestment risk on fixed-rate loans, as well as prepayment risk on mortgage-related loans and securities funded by non-rate sensitive deposits and equity.
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Another important source of structural interest rate risk relates to the potential exercise of explicit or embedded options. For example, most consumer loans can be prepaid without penalty and most consumer deposits can be withdrawn without penalty. The exercise of such options by customers can exacerbate the timing differences discussed above.
The primary goal of interest rate risk management is to control exposure to interest rate risk within policy limits approved by our Board. These limits and guidelines reflect our tolerance for interest rate risk over both short- and long-term horizons. To ensure that exposure to interest rate risk is managed within our risk appetite, we measure the exposure and hedge it, as necessary. The Treasury Asset and Liability Management team is responsible for measuring, monitoring, and reporting on our structural interest rate risk position. These exposures are reported on a monthly basis to the Asset Liability Committee and at Board meetings.
We measure structural interest rate risk through a variety of metrics intended to quantify both short- and long-term exposures. The primary method we use to quantify interest rate risk is simulation analysis in which we model net interest income from assets, liabilities, and hedge derivative positions under various interest rate scenarios over a three-year horizon. Exposure to interest rate risk is reflected in the variation of forecasted net interest income across these scenarios.
Key assumptions in this simulation analysis relate to the behavior of interest rates and spreads, changes in product balances, and the behavior of our loan and deposit customers in different rate environments. Repricing characteristics and balance fluctuations of deposits with indeterminate (i.e., non-contractual) maturities, as well as the pace of mortgage prepayments are the most significant behavioral assumptions. We utilize product level models that consider specific product characteristics and composition of the deposit portfolio, along with current and forward-looking market dynamics, to project deposit rates. Similarly, we employ dynamic prepayment and mortgage rate models to project prepayment behaviors specific to each of our product offerings. These models are developed based on internal performance data over prior interest rate cycles and calibrated to our experience and outlook for rates across a diverse set of market environments. We assess our models and assumptions periodically by running sensitivity analyses to determine the impact of changes to inputs or assumptions on our risk results, which are reported to the Asset Liability Committee.
Since we cannot predict the future path of interest rates, we use simulation analysis to project net interest income under various interest rate scenarios including a “most likely” (implied forward) scenario, as well as a variety of extreme and unlikely scenarios. These scenarios may assume gradual ramping of the overall level of interest rates, immediate shocks to the level of rates, and various yield curve twists in which movements in short- or long-term rates predominate. Generally, projected net interest income in any interest rate scenario is compared to net interest income in a base case where market-forward rates are realized.
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The table below presents the sensitivity of net interest income to various parallel yield curve shifts from the market implied forward yield curve. Our policies involve measuring exposures as a percentage change in net interest income over the next year due to either instantaneous or gradual parallel changes in rates relative to the market implied forward yield curve. As the following table illustrates, our balance sheet is slightly asset sensitive; net interest income would benefit from an increase in interest rates, while exposure to a decline in interest rates is within limits established and monitored by senior management. While an instantaneous and severe shift in interest rates is included in this analysis, we believe that any actual shift in interest rates would be more gradual and, therefore, have a more modest impact.
| Table 20: Sensitivity of Net Interest Income | ||
|---|---|---|
| Estimated % Change inNet Interest Income over 12 Months | ||
| December 31, | ||
| Basis points | 2025 | 2024 |
| Gradual Change in Interest Rates | ||
| +200 | 2.0% | 2.2% |
| +100 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| -100 | (1.1) | (0.9) |
| -200 | (2.4) | (1.8) |
| Instantaneous Change in Interest Rates | ||
| +200 | 1.8% | 1.8% |
| +100 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| -100 | (1.9) | (1.3) |
| -200 | (4.8) | (3.3) |
We continue to manage asset sensitivity within the scope of our policy, changing market conditions, and changes in our balance sheet. The Company’s base case net interest income assumes the forward-rate path implied by the period-end yield curve is realized. The rate risk exposure is then measured based on assumed changes from that base case rate path.
Our risk position is slightly asset sensitive to a gradual change in rates as of December 31, 2025, consistent with our position as of December 31, 2024. Our interest rate sensitivity incorporates the impact of changes in our balance sheet mix, including securities, loans, deposits, borrowed funds, and hedge activity. Receive-fixed swaps that offset our naturally asset-sensitive balance sheet represent the primary hedging tool utilized to manage overall asset sensitivity. Pay-fixed swaps against our securities portfolio are also utilized to protect capital by reducing AOCI volatility.
We use a valuation measure of exposure to structural interest rate risk, EVE, as a supplement to net interest income simulations. EVE complements net interest income simulation analysis as it estimates risk exposure over a long-term horizon. EVE measures the extent to which the economic value of assets, liabilities, and off-balance sheet instruments may change in response to fluctuations in interest rates. This analysis is highly dependent upon assumptions applied to assets and liabilities with non-contractual maturities. We employ sophisticated models for prepayments and deposit pricing and attrition, which provide a granular view of cash flows based on the unique characteristics of the underlying products and customer segments. The change in value is expressed as a percentage of regulatory capital.
We use interest rate derivative contracts as part of our ALM strategy to manage exposure to the variability in the interest cash flows on our floating-rate assets and wholesale funding, the variability in the fair value of AFS securities, and to hedge market risk on fixed-rate capital markets debt issuances.
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The following table presents interest rate derivative contracts that we have entered into as of December 31, 2025 and 2024:
| Table 21: Interest Rate Hedges Used to Manage Non-Trading Interest Rate Exposure | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 2025 · December 31, 2024 | ||||||||||||
| Weighted Average · Weighted Average | ||||||||||||
| (dollars in millions) · Notional Amount · Maturity (Years) · Fixed Rate · Reset Rate · Notional Amount · Maturity (Years) · Fixed Rate · Reset Rate | ||||||||||||
| Fair value hedges: | ||||||||||||
| Asset conversion swaps: | ||||||||||||
| AFS securities: | ||||||||||||
| Pay fixed/receive SOFR | $6,608 | 3.8 | 3.8% | 3.9% | $7,827 | 4.7 | 3.8% | 4.5% | ||||
| Liability conversion swaps: | ||||||||||||
| Long-term borrowed funds: | ||||||||||||
| Receive fixed/pay SOFR | — | — | — | — | 500 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 4.8 | ||||
| Total fair value hedges | $6,608 | $8,327 | ||||||||||
| Cash flow hedges: | ||||||||||||
| Asset conversion swaps: | ||||||||||||
| Loans: | ||||||||||||
| Swaps | ||||||||||||
| Receive fixed/pay SOFR | $30,750 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 3.9 | $26,250 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 4.5 | ||||
| Receive fixed/pay SOFR - forward-starting | 17,000 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 20,000 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 4.0 | ||||
| Basis swaps | ||||||||||||
| Receive SOFR/pay 1-month term SOFR | 12,000 | 0.8 | — | 3.9/3.7 | 11,500 | 1.6 | — | 4.5/4.3 | ||||
| Receive SOFR/pay 1-month term SOFR - forward-starting | 1,000 | 1.0 | — | 3.9/3.7 | 3,000 | 2.4 | — | 4.0/4.0 | ||||
| Total cash flow hedges | $60,750 | $60,750 | ||||||||||
| Total hedges | $67,358 | $69,077 | ||||||||||
Included in AOCI are net losses from terminated swaps of $273 million that will reduce net interest income by $230 million in 2026 and $43 million thereafter.
Capital Markets
A key component of our capital markets activities is the underwriting and distribution of corporate credit facilities to finance M&A transactions or other corporate purposes for our clients. We have a rigorous risk management process around these activities, including a limit structure capping our underwriting risk, potential loss, and sub-limits for specific asset classes. Further, the ability to approve underwriting exposure is delegated only to senior level individuals in the credit risk management and capital markets organizations with each transaction, at a minimum, requiring approval of one business approver and one credit approver. Such approvals are frequently handled in the context of a committee meeting forum known as the Loan Underwriting Approval Committee.
Mortgage Servicing Rights
We have market risk associated with the value of residential MSRs, which are impacted by various types of inherent risks, including duration, basis, convexity, volatility, and yield curve.
As part of our overall risk management strategy we enter into various freestanding derivatives, such as interest rate swaps, interest rate swaptions, interest rate futures, and forward contracts to purchase mortgage-backed securities to economically hedge the changes in fair value of our MSRs. For more information regarding the fair value of our MSRs and associated derivatives see Note 6 and Note 12.
As with our traded market risk-based activities, earnings at risk excludes the impact of MSRs. MSRs are captured under our single price risk management framework that is used for calculating a management VaR consistent with the definition used by banking regulators.
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Trading Risk
We are exposed to market risk primarily through client facilitation activities from certain derivative and foreign exchange products as well as underwriting and market making activities. Market risk exposure arises from fluctuations in interest rates, basis spreads, volatility, foreign exchange rates, equity prices, and credit spreads across various financial instruments.
Client facilitation activities consist primarily of interest rate derivatives, financially settled commodity derivatives, and foreign exchange contracts where we enter into offsetting trades with a separate counterparty or exchange to manage our market risk exposure. In addition, we operate trading desks covering secondary loans, corporate bonds, and equity securities, with the objective of meeting secondary liquidity needs of our clients. We do not engage in any trading activities to benefit from short-term price differences.
Market Risk Governance
The process of setting our market risk limit is established in accordance with the formal enterprise risk appetite process and policy, which reflects the strategic and enterprise level articulation of opportunities for creating franchise value set to the boundaries of how much market risk to assume. Dealing authorities represent the key control tool in the management of market risk that allows the cascading of the risk appetite throughout the enterprise. A dealing authority sets the operational scope and tolerances within which a business and/or trading desk is permitted to operate, which is reviewed annually at a minimum. Dealing authorities are structured to accommodate client facing trades and hedges needed to manage the risk profile, with responsibility for remaining within established tolerances residing with the business. Key risk indicators, including VaR, open foreign currency positions, and single name risk are monitored daily and reported against tolerances consistent with our risk appetite and business strategy to the appropriate business line management and risk counterparts.
Market Risk Measurement
We use VaR as a statistical measure for estimating the potential exposure of our traded market risk in normal market conditions, with our VaR framework identical for both risk management and regulatory reporting purposes. Risk management VaR is based on a one-day holding period to a 99% confidence level and regulatory VaR is based on a ten-day holding period to the same confidence level. In addition to VaR, non-statistical measurements for measuring risk such as sensitivity analysis, market value, and stress testing are employed.
Our market risk platform and associated market risk and valuation models capture correlation effects across all our “covered positions” and allow for aggregation of market risk across products, risk types, business lines, and legal entities. We measure, monitor, and report market risk for management and regulatory capital purposes.
VaR Overview
The market risk measurement model is based on historical simulation. The VaR measure estimates the extent of any fair value losses on trading positions that may occur due to broad market movements (General VaR) such as changes in the level of interest rates, foreign exchange rates, equity prices, and commodity prices. It is calculated on the basis that current positions remain relatively unaltered over the course of a given holding period with the assumption that markets are sufficiently liquid to allow the business to close its positions, if required, within this holding period. Based on the composition of our “covered positions,” we also use a standardized add-on approach for the loan trading and high yield bond desks’ Specific Risk capital, which estimates the extent of any losses that may occur from factors other than broad market movements. The General VaR approach is expressed in terms of a confidence level over the past 500 trading days. The internal VaR measure, used as the basis of the main VaR trading limits, is a 99% confidence level with a one-day holding period, indicating that a loss greater than the VaR is expected to occur, on average, on only one day in 100 trading days (i.e., 1% of the time). Theoretically, there should be a loss event greater than VaR two to three times per year. The regulatory measure of VaR is a 99% confidence level with a ten-day holding period. The historical market data applied to calculate the VaR is updated on a two-business day lag. Refer to “Market Risk Regulatory Capital” below for details of our ten-day VaR metrics for the quarters ended December 31, 2025 and 2024.
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Market Risk Regulatory Capital
The U.S. banking regulators’ “Market Risk Rule” covers the calculation of market risk capital. Under this rule, all of our client facing trades and associated hedges maintain a low net risk and qualify as “covered positions.” The internal management VaR measure is calculated based on the same population of trades that is utilized for regulatory VaR.
| Table 22: Results of Modeled and Non-Modeled Measures for Regulatory Capital Calculations | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (dollars in millions) | For the Three Months Ended December 31, 2025 | For the Three Months Ended December 31, 2024 | ||||||
| Market Risk Category | Period End | Average | High | Low | Period End | Average | High | Low |
| Interest Rate | $1 | $1 | $1 | $1 | $2 | $1 | $3 | $1 |
| Foreign Exchange Currency Rate | — | — | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Credit Spread | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Commodity | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| General VaR | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Specific Risk VaR | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total VaR | $1 | $2 | $4 | $1 | $3 | $2 | $3 | $1 |
| Stressed General VaR | $9 | $5 | $9 | $4 | $7 | $7 | $12 | $4 |
| Stressed Specific Risk VaR | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total Stressed VaR | $9 | $5 | $9 | $4 | $7 | $7 | $12 | $4 |
| Market Risk Regulatory Capital | $21 | $28 | ||||||
| Specific Risk Not Modeled Add-on | 27 | 25 | ||||||
| de Minimis Exposure Add-on | 2 | — | ||||||
| Total Market Risk Regulatory Capital | $50 | $53 | ||||||
| Market Risk-Weighted Assets | $621 | $665 | ||||||
Stressed VaR
SVaR is an extension of VaR and utilizes a longer historical look-back horizon, fixed from January 3, 2005, to identify headline risks from more volatile periods and to provide a counterbalance to VaR, which may be low during periods of low volatility. The holding period for profit and loss determination is ten days. In addition to its utilization for risk management purposes, SVaR is a component of market risk regulatory capital. We calculate SVaR daily under its own dynamic window regime whereby values of the ten-day, 99% VaR are calculated over all 260-day periods that can be obtained from the complete historical data set. Refer to “Market Risk Regulatory Capital” above for SVaR metrics.
Sensitivity Analysis
Sensitivity analysis is the measure of exposure to a single risk factor, such as a one basis point change in rates or credit spread. We conduct and monitor sensitivity on interest rates, basis spreads, foreign exchange exposures, option prices, and credit spreads. Since VaR is based on previous moves in market risk factors over recent periods, it may not be an accurate predictor of future market moves. Sensitivity analysis complements VaR as it provides an indication of risk relative to each factor irrespective of historical market moves and is an effective tool in evaluating the appropriateness of hedging strategies and concentrations.
Stress Testing
Conducting a stress test of a portfolio consists of running risk models with the inclusion of key variables that simulate various historical or hypothetical scenarios. For historical stress tests, profit and loss results are simulated for select time periods corresponding to the most volatile underlying returns, while hypothetical stress tests aim to consider concentration risk, illiquidity under stressed market conditions, and risk arising from our trading activities that may not be fully captured by our other risk-measurement methodologies. Hypothetical scenarios also assume that market moves occur simultaneously and no repositioning or hedging activity takes place to mitigate losses as market events unfold. Stress tests of our trading positions are generated daily.
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VaR Model Review and Validation
Our market risk measurement models are independently reviewed and subject to ongoing performance analysis by the model owners. This independent review and validation focuses on model methodology, market data, and performance and is the responsibility of Citizens’ Model Risk Management and Validation team. This team challenges the assumptions used and quantitative techniques employed, including the theoretical justification supporting them, and performs an assessment of the soundness of the required data over time. The quantitative impact of the major underlying modeling assumptions is estimated (e.g., through developing alternative models), if possible. The market risk models may be periodically enhanced due to changes in market price levels and price action regime behavior. The Market Risk Management and Validation team conducts internal validation before a new or changed model element is implemented and before a change is made to market data mapping.
VaR Backtesting
Backtesting is one form of validation of the VaR model and is run daily. The Market Risk Rule requires a comparison of our internal VaR measure to the actual, aggregated net trading revenue (excluding fees, commissions, reserves, intra-day trading, and net interest income) for each day over the preceding year (the most recent 250 business days). Any observed loss in excess of the combined portfolio’s VaR number is taken as an exception. The number of exceptions determines the multiplication factor used to derive the VaR and SVaR-based capital requirement for regulatory reporting purposes, when applicable. The multiplication factor, which increases from a minimum of three to a maximum of four, depending on the number of exceptions, did not change during 2025 based on the Company’s three observed exceptions during the year. Further, we perform sub-portfolio backtesting as required under the Market Risk Rule, using models approved by our banking regulators for interest rate, credit spread, commodity, and foreign exchange positions.
The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.