NEW YORK, April 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (“Citizens” or the “Company”) (NYSE:CFG) and certain of its officers.   The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Citizens securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants’ violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.If you are a shareholder who purchased Citizens securities between March 18, 2016 and March 29, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until June 26, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class.  A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com.   To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Citizens Bank, N.A. and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania that provide retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that:  (1) that Company employees were falsifying information related to the Citizens Checkup program; (2) that, as a result, the Company’s reported Citizens Checkup figures were inflated; and (3) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ statements about Citizens’ business, operations, and prospects, were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

On March 29, 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Company implemented a program that invited customers into branches for a financial checkup (or “Citizens Checkup”) and that the Company claimed 400,000 such meetings occurred in 2016, but that eleven current and former Citizens branch employees in five states claimed that information about some meetings was fabricated by those employees or others as they struggled to meet goals set by the bank.

On this news, the Company’s stock price declined $0.54 per share to close at $34.49 per share on March 29, 2017, on unusually heavy trading volume.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com