PROVIDENCE – Stephen D. Steinour will resign as president and CEO of Citizens Financial Group Inc., effective March 11, “to pursue other business interests that will enable him to spend more time with his family, the company announced.

Ellen Alemany, the CEO of parent company RBS Americas, will replace Steinour as CEO of Citizens Financial, while veteran commercial banker James G. Connolly will take his place as president, the company said.

Steinour had joined Citizens in 1992, as a member of Fish’s leadership team, and had risen to vice chairman, then president, then CEO of the Providence-based company before joining RBS Americas last March, when Fish was promoted to RBS Americas’ chairman. (READ MORE) Steinour retained his post as president of Citizens Financial when he took over as CEO.

“Citizens has been part of my life for 16 years, and I am proud of what we all have been able to accomplish together,” Steinour said in a March 3 statement. “In that relatively short time, Citizens has grown from a $5 billion bank with retail locations in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts into a Top 10 U.S. commercial banking company.”

“Steve has been a terrific leader at Citizens,” Lawrence K. Fish, chairman of RBS Americas, said in a statement today. “No one has worked harder or with more dedication to our company’s great success during our many years of building Citizens into one of America’s banking leaders. He not only embraced our company’s ‘Credo’ commitment to customers, colleagues and community in his year as CEO, he extended its reach and impact.”

“As president and CEO, Steve led Citizens with great success through a year that was challenging for the U.S. banking industry,” added Alemany, whom the company said is working closely with Steinour to ensure a smooth transition. “We will miss his energy and vision, but understand his desire to pursue opportunities that allow him to spend more time with his family,” she said.

Alemany’s 31-year career in banking finance has included roles at Chase Manhattan Bank and Citigroup, where she served in a variety of senior roles, including CEO of Citi Capital, CEO of the bank’s commercial business group, corporate bank head for North America and Europe and, most recently, CEO of Global Transaction Services.

“Ellen is the natural choice to take on the additional CEO responsibilities at Citizens,” said Fish. “She understands well our company’s philosophy of developing the finest banking products and services, and delivering them locally, as well as Citizens’ long-standing commitment to colleagues, customers and community.

“My respect for Ellen’s talents and vision was very strong when we began working together last year, and it is even stronger today,” Fish said.

Connolly, a Medfield, Mass., resident who joined Citizens Financial Group in March 2005 as vice chairman in charge of the Corporate Financial Group, more recently has assumed responsibility for the Commercial Markets division. Before joining Citizens, he held many posts at Bank of America and Fleet Bank, most recently as president of BofA Business Capital.

Active in the community, he is a member of the board of the Boston Latin School Association, where he also is a member of the finance committee; director and chairman of the Massachusetts Mentoring Partnership; and an overseer of the board of WGBH in Boston. A graduate of Boston Latin School, he received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University in 1982.

As Citizens Financial’s new president, he will be responsible for the company’s core U.S. banking franchise. He also will serve on the RBS America leadership team.

“I have been working closely with Jim since last summer on initiatives to grow our company’s Commercial Markets business,” Alemany said today. “I admire his vision, ideas and management skills, and we are both committed to Citizens’ strong tradition of delivering locally for our customers.”

“Citizens has thrived on its ability to deliver a full range of financial products and services locally, in every market where we do business,” Connolly said. “That local commitment is one of our hallmarks. It has enabled Citizens to distinguish itself from most other big banks, and it will continue to drive our success in the years ahead.”

Citizens Financial Group Inc. – a division of RBS Americas, which is owned by the U.K.-based Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc – is a $159 billion commercial bank holding company with about 24,500 employees. Its two bank subsidiaries are RBS Citizens NA and Charter One Bank parent Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. Citizens Financial and its subsidiaries operate more than 1,600 bank branches in 13 states plus non-branch offices in about 40 states. Additional information is available at CitizensBank.com.