09/09/2015

Citizens Bank Names John Bahnken President, Wealth Management

30+ Year Financial Services Veteran and Former President of Global Wealth & Investment Management Products for Bank of America Joins Citizens from Bank of the West/BNP Paribas

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Citizens Bank today announced that John Bahnken has been named President, Wealth Management, effective October 5, 2015. Bahnken, a financial services veteran with more than 30 years of wealth management, investment management and banking experience, joins Citizens from Bank of the West/BNP Paribas and previously held executive leadership roles at firms including Bank of America and FleetBoston Financial.

Bahnken will report to Brad Conner, Vice Chairman and Head of Consumer Banking. He succeeds Mike Millard, who is retiring from Citizens after leading Wealth Management for 10 years.

“As we continue to grow our wealth management business and to help more and more Citizens Bank customers plan for retirement and other long-term financial objectives, we are very pleased to announce John Bahnken as our new Head of Wealth Management,” Conner said. “John brings tremendous experience from some of the most-respected wealth management and investment firms in the country and will provide key leadership for all of our wealth management businesses. I also want to thank Mike Millard for his leadership of this business for 10 years and wish him all the best in life’s next chapter.”

Bahnken has spent the last four years building BNP Paribas North American wealth businesses, where the wealth management group under his leadership received several industry awards. He also previously served in a variety of wealth and investment management leadership roles over the course of 15 years at Bank of America and its acquired banks including FleetBoston and Norstar Banks. In his last role at Bank of America, he served for four years as president of its Global Wealth & Investment Management Products Group and was a member of the Bank of America Management Operating Committee. At Prudential Securities, he served as the senior financial executive for several units and he also spent 10 years at HSBC Americas in a variety of commercial banking roles.

To learn more about Citizens Bank, customers can call the 24/7 customer contact center at 1-800-922-9999, Like the bank on Facebook, follow the bank on Twitter or visit the Citizens Bank website.

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: CFG) is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $137.3 billion in assets as of June 30, 2015. 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. In Consumer Banking, Citizens helps its retail customers “bank better” with mobile and online banking, a 24/7 customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,200 ATMs and approximately 1,200 Citizens Bank branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Citizens also provides mortgage lending, auto lending, student lending and commercial banking services in select markets nationwide. 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 hedging, leasing and asset finance, specialty finance and trade finance.

Citizens operates through its subsidiaries Citizens Bank, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. Additional information about Citizens and its full line of products and services can be found at www.citizensbank.com.

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Citizens Bank
Steve Sylven, 781-471-1481

Source: Citizens Bank