GOODWILL

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

NOTE 6 - GOODWILL

Goodwill is the purchase premium associated with the acquisition of a business and is assigned to the Company’s reporting units at the acquisition date. A reporting unit is a business operating segment or a component of a business operating segment. Citizens has identified and assigned goodwill to two reporting units - Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking - based upon reviews of the structure of the Company’s executive team and supporting functions, resource allocations and financial reporting processes. Once goodwill has been assigned to reporting units, it no longer retains its association with a particular acquisition, and all of the activities within a reporting unit, whether acquired or organically grown, are available to support the value of the goodwill.

Goodwill is not amortized, but is subject to annual impairment tests. Citizens reviews goodwill for impairment annually as of October 31^st and in interim periods when events or changes indicate the carrying value of one or more reporting units may not be recoverable. The Company has the option of performing a qualitative assessment of goodwill to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of each reporting unit is less than the carrying value. If it is more likely than not that the fair value exceeds the carrying value, then no further testing is necessary; otherwise, Citizens must perform a quantitative assessment of goodwill.

Citizens may elect to bypass the qualitative assessment and perform a quantitative assessment. The quantitative assessment, used to identify potential impairment, involves comparing each reporting unit’s fair value to its carrying value, including goodwill. If the fair value of a reporting unit exceeds its carrying value inclusive of goodwill, applicable goodwill is deemed to be not impaired. If the carrying value of the reporting unit inclusive of goodwill exceeds its fair value, an impairment charge is recorded for the excess. The impairment loss recognized cannot exceed the amount of goodwill assigned to the reporting unit, and the loss establishes a new basis in the goodwill. Subsequent reversal of goodwill impairment losses is not permitted.

Under the quantitative impairment assessment, the fair values of the Company’s reporting units are determined using a combination of income and market-based approaches. Citizens relies on the income approach (discounted cash flow method) for determining fair value. Market and transaction approaches are used as benchmarks only to corroborate the value determined by the discounted cash flow method. Citizens relies on several assumptions when estimating the fair value of its reporting units using the discounted cash flow method. These assumptions include the discount rate, as well as projected loan loss, income tax and capital retention rates.

Discount rates are estimated based on the Capital Asset Pricing Model, which considers the risk-free interest rate, market risk premium, beta, and size premium adjustments specific to a particular reporting unit. The discount rates are also calibrated on the assessment of the risks related to the projected cash flows of each reporting unit. Cash flow projections include estimates for projected loan loss, income tax and capital retention rates. Multi-year financial forecasts are developed for each reporting unit by considering several key business drivers such as new

business initiatives, customer retention standards, market share changes, anticipated loan and deposit growth, forward interest rates, historical performance, and industry and economic trends, among other considerations. The long-term growth rate used in determining the terminal value of each reporting unit is estimated based on management’s assessment of the minimum expected terminal growth rate of each reporting unit, as well as broader economic considerations such as GDP and inflation.

In 2020, economic conditions deteriorated significantly with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The outbreak resulted in social distancing requirements throughout the world, severely restricting the economy. In response to the crisis, the Federal Reserve lowered the Federal Funds rate in March 2020 to close to zero. Additionally, the U.S. government initiated numerous measures to support the economy, including the CARES Act. Given the current macroeconomic environment, Citizens assessed whether it was more likely than not that the fair value of its reporting units was less than carrying value as of June 30, 2020. Impairment indicators evaluated included economic conditions, including projections of the duration of current conditions and timing of a potential recovery; industry and market considerations; government intervention and regulatory updates; the impact of recent events to financial performance and cost factors of the reporting units; performance of the Company’s stock; and other relevant events. Citizens further considered the amount by which fair value exceeded book value for each unit in the most recent quantitative analysis and sensitivities performed. At the conclusion of the assessment, the Company determined that it was more likely than not that the fair value of each reporting unit exceeded its carrying value as of June 30, 2020.

The interim assessment of goodwill impairment included evaluation of various factors that continue to rapidly evolve and for which significant uncertainty remains, including future growth rates and operating margins, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to the economy and ongoing government intervention to mitigate that impact. Further weakening in the economic environment, such as continued decline in the performance of the reporting units or other factors, could cause the fair value of one or more of the reporting units to fall below their carrying value, resulting in a goodwill impairment charge. Additionally, new legislative or regulatory changes not anticipated in management's expectations may cause the fair value of one or more of the reporting units to fall below the carrying value, resulting in a goodwill impairment charge. Any impairment charge would not affect the Company’s regulatory capital ratios, tangible common equity ratio or liquidity position.

The change in the carrying value of goodwill for the six months ended June 30, 2020 is presented below:



(in millions)	Consumer Banking		Commercial Banking		Total
Balance at December 31, 2019		$2,258		$4,786		$7,044
Business acquisitions	—		6		6
Balance at June 30, 2020		$2,258		$4,792		$7,050

Accumulated impairment losses related to the Consumer Banking reporting unit totaled $5.9 billion at June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019. The accumulated impairment losses related to the Commercial Banking reporting unit totaled $50 million at June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019. No impairment was recorded for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 or 2019.