04/08/2025

Citizens Strengthens Commitment to Tri-State Metro with Veteran Leadership Appointments

Bank names local leaders across business lines

April 8, 2025 (New York, NY) – Citizens today announced leadership appointments in the Tri-State Metro that will further deepen the bank’s support for customers, clients and communities in the region.

  • Yajaira Hafley was named Tri-State Metro Retail Market Executive and will oversee the bank's regional branch network and a thousand retail colleagues to drive business growth and enhance the customer experience.
  • Sarah Veitch was named New York City Market Executive for middle market banking and Matthew Rickert was named Northern and Central New Jersey Market Executive for middle market banking. Both will lead teams of experienced corporate bankers tasked with delivering Citizens’ comprehensive suite of commercial banking products and services to the regions’ businesses.
  • Nuno Francisco was elevated to the role of Business Banking Market Executive for the Tri-State Metro, where he will focus on delivering best-in-class, personalized insights from trusted advisors to business banking customers in the region.

“As Citizens continues to grow in the Tri-State Metro market, these experienced leaders will play a critical role in further deepening our relationships with customers and clients across the region,” said Rebecca O’Connell, Tri-State Metro President at Citizens.

Hafley brings more than 20 years of experience to Citizens and most recently served as Head of Branch Banking at Santander. She will report to Nuno Dos Santos, Head of Retail Banking.

Veitch comes to Citizens with more than 18 years of experience serving middle market businesses in the New York City Metro and most recently served as a Market Executive at JPMorgan Chase. Rickert brings more than 25 years of commercial banking experience to Citizens, including senior leadership roles at Columbia Bank and JPMorgan Chase. Both Veitch and Rickert will report to O’Connell.

Francisco enters his role with more than 25 years of banking experience, including the last decade in Business Banking leadership roles at Citi. He will report to Mark Valentino, Head of Business Banking.

“These appointments underscore our continued commitment to investing in talent and solutions to support businesses and individuals in the Tri-State Metro region,” said O’Connell.

Citizens’ Commitment to New York City

Since expanding into the New York City metro area in 2022, through the acquisitions of HSBC’s East Coast branches and New Jersey-based Investors Bank, Citizens has grown its presence in the city across its business lines. The bank has 174 branches in the Tri-State Metro area and has seen top-quartile household and deposit growth in the most competitive market in the country. Citizens also plans to open its first New York Private Banking office this summer, providing holistic high-touch client service to high-net-worth individuals, families and businesses in the market.

Citizens is committed to becoming part of the city’s fabric and has established partnerships that expand economic opportunity, invest in workforce development, and celebrate the culture, resilience, and entrepreneurial spirit of New Yorkers. Through collaborations with organizations like New York Road Runners, The Public Theater, Queens Night Market, LISC, Pursuit, and New York Restoration Project, Citizens is dedicated to helping create a stronger, more vibrant future for the city.

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $217.5 billion in assets as of December 31, 2024. 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 3,100 ATMs and approximately 1,000 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 X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn or Facebook.