RBS Citizens Names Chief for Michigan Operations

Citizens Financial Group has hired Richard Hampson to be its president in Michigan.

Hampson will also lead middle-market banking in Michigan for Citizens. He will start on Monday.

The Providence, R.I., company is the U.S. unit of Royal Bank of Scotland and operates under the Citizens Bank and Charter One names. It has branches in a dozen states, including more than 100 in Michigan.

Hampson came over from PNC Financial Services Group (PNC), where he managed corporate banking clients across Michigan, northwest Ohio and Canada. Before joining PNC, he worked at Comerica (CMA) and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

"Rick brings a wealth of commercial banking expertise and deep knowledge of the Michigan market," Steve Woods, the head of corporate banking for Citizens Financial, said in a news release Friday. He "will provide strong leadership for our team as we continue to grow our business in Michigan."

The $128 billion-asset Citizens Financial recently sold its Charter One operations in Chicago to U.S. Bancorp (USB). It still has Charter One operations in Ohio as well as Michigan.

Overall, Citizens Financial operates in a dozen states including Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.

RBS, which is 80%-owned by the British government, has announced plans to spin off its U.S. unit as it streamlines itself under pressure from regulators. It said in November that it would conduct a partial initial public offering of the unit this year and fully divest itself through offerings in 2015 and 2016. It began the process in May.

Rumors periodically swirl that another bank, such as Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group or Toronto-Dominion Bank, might try to buy Citizens Financial.