Citizens Financial Group won't be sold

PROVIDENCE,R.I. (WPRI) - The head of Citizens Financial Group says it won't be sold by its parent company, the Royal Bank of Scotland, as a condition of the British government pouring billions of dollars into the firm.

Chief Executive Officer Ellen Alemany says RBS's announcement Tuesday that Citizens is not among the assets it will sell affirms that the Providence-based banking firm is "a valued part of the RBS Group."

Citizens Financial operates nearly 1,500 branches, as Citizens Bank in nine northeastern states and as Charter One in three midwestern states. It has about 23,000 employees.

RBS says it's selling other assets, including branch networks in England, Wales and Scotland as part of a deal announced Tuesday in which the British government gives it 25.5 billion pounds, about $41.8 billion, on top of an earlier bailout.