In Brief: Citizens Financial Chief Executive Sells Stock

Lawrence K. Fish, president and chief executive officer of Citizens Financial Group Inc., expects to receive new options after selling all of his shares in Citizens' parent, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, a Citizens spokeswoman said yesterday.

Mr. Fish, who is also chairman of Citizens Bank of Massachusetts, converted 23,000 Royal Bank options into stock on Feb. 26 and then sold them.

"He had held the options for about four years and decided to sell because the markets had been so strong," the spokeswoman said. "He expects to receive a substantial number of additional options from the Royal Bank in 60-90 days."

She said his selling was not a sign of a lack of confidence, but rather a move to reap returns after Royal Bank's stock spiked and then slipped on merger rumors last month.

Royal Bank, based in Edinburgh, owns 76.5% of Providence, R.I.-based Citizens, New England's third-largest bank behind Fleet Financial Group Inc. and BankBoston Corp.

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