Citizens Financial Plans To Swap Deloitte For PwC As Auditor Starting With Fiscal 2027
The bank's Audit Committee approved the change Wednesday; Deloitte stays through the 2026 audit, and the company reports no disagreements with it.
Citizens Financial Group, the Providence, Rhode Island, bank holding company, plans to replace Deloitte & Touche with PricewaterhouseCoopers as its outside auditor, its Audit Committee decided Wednesday, according to an 8-K filed Friday. Deloitte keeps the job through the audit of fiscal 2026, and PwC takes over for fiscal 2027.
Deloitte stays through the 2026 audit
The dismissal takes effect only when Deloitte finishes auditing the company's consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2026, and its internal controls over financial reporting as of that date. PwC's engagement is for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2027, and begins immediately after Deloitte completes that work.
PwC's appointment is subject to completion of its standard client acceptance process, the company said.
A clean exit, the company says
Deloitte's reports on the financial statements for fiscal 2025 and 2024 carried no adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, and were not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles.
The company reports there were no disagreements with Deloitte on accounting principles, disclosures or audit scope, and no reportable events, during those two fiscal years or the interim period through October 28, 2026. Deloitte furnished a letter dated October 30, 2026, which is attached to the filing.
The company also said that neither it nor anyone acting for it consulted PwC during those periods on how accounting rules apply to a transaction, on the type of audit opinion that might be given, or on any disagreement or reportable event.
The bank behind the change
Citizens offers retail and commercial banking to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. According to its 10-K, it had total assets of $226.4 billion and deposits of $183.3 billion at December 31, 2025, with more than 1,000 branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia.
The next marker is Deloitte's completion of the fiscal 2026 audit, after which PwC's engagement begins.
