VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]

NOTE 10 - VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

Citizens makes equity investments in various entities that are considered VIEs, as defined by GAAP. A VIE typically does not have sufficient equity at risk to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support from other parties. The Company’s variable interest arises from contractual, ownership or other monetary interests in the entity, which change with fluctuations in the fair value of the entity's net assets. Citizens consolidates a VIE if it is the primary beneficiary of the entity. Citizens is the primary beneficiary of a VIE if its variable interest provides it with the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the VIE and the right to receive benefits (or the obligation to absorb losses) that could potentially be significant to the

VIE. To determine whether or not a variable interest held could potentially be significant to the VIE, the company considers both qualitative and quantitative factors regarding the nature, size and form of its involvement with the VIE. Citizens assesses whether or not it is the primary beneficiary of a VIE on an ongoing basis.

Citizens is involved in various entities that are considered VIEs, including investments in limited partnerships that sponsor affordable housing projects, limited liability companies that sponsor renewable energy projects or asset-backed securities and lending to special purpose entities. Citizens’ maximum exposure to loss as a result of its involvement with these entities is limited to the balance sheet carrying amount of its equity investment and asset-backed securities, unfunded commitments, and outstanding principal balance of loans to special purpose entities.

A summary of these investments is presented below:


	December 31,
(in millions)	2020	2019
LIHTC investment included in other assets	$1,687	$1,401
LIHTC unfunded commitments included in other liabilities	875	716
Lending to special purpose entities included in loans and leases	1,295	1,101
Investment in asset-backed securities included in HTM securities	893	—
Renewable energy investments included in other assets	403	355

Low Income Housing Tax Credit Partnerships

The purpose of the Company’s equity investments is to assist in achieving the goals of the Community Reinvestment Act and to earn an adequate return of capital. LIHTC partnerships are managed by unrelated general partners that have the power to direct the activities which most significantly affect the performance of the partnerships. Citizens is therefore not the primary beneficiary of any LIHTC partnerships. Accordingly, Citizens does not consolidate these VIEs and accounts for these investments in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Citizens applies the proportional amortization method to account for its LIHTC investments. Under the proportional amortization method, the Company applies a practical expedient and amortizes the initial cost of the investment in proportion to the tax credits received in the current period as compared to the total tax credits expected to be received over the life of the investment. The amortization and tax benefits are included as a component of income tax expense. The tax credits received are reported as a reduction of income tax expense (or an increase to income tax benefit) related to these transactions.

The following table presents other information related to the Company’s affordable housing tax credit investments:


	Year Ended December 31,
(in millions)	2020	2019	2018
Tax credits included in income tax expense	$159	$128	$101
Amortization expense included in income tax expense	168	137	110
Other tax benefits included in income tax expense	38	32	25

No LIHTC investment impairment losses were recognized during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018.

Lending to Special Purpose Entities

Citizens provides lending facilities to third-party sponsored special purpose entities. Because the sponsor for each respective entity has the power to direct how proceeds from the Company are utilized, as well as maintains responsibility for any associated servicing commitments, Citizens is not the primary beneficiary of these entities. Accordingly, Citizens does not consolidate these VIEs on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the lending facilities had aggregate unpaid principal balances of $1.3 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively, and undrawn commitments to extend credit of $1.5 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively.

Asset-backed securities

For the year ended December 31, 2020, Citizens sold $1.1 billion of education loans, inclusive of accrued interest, capitalized interest and fees, to a third-party sponsored VIE. As part of these sales, the Company recognized a gain on sale of $35 million in other income. The Company provided financing to the purchaser for a portion of the sale price in the form of $893 million of asset-backed securities collateralized by the sold assets. Citizens will continue to act as primary servicer for the sold educational loans, and will receive a servicing fee. A third-party special servicer will be responsible for servicing for all loans that become significantly delinquent, as discussed below.

At the time of the sale, and at each subsequent reporting period, Citizens is required to evaluate its involvement with the VIE to determine if it holds a variable interest in the VIE and, if so, if the Company is the primary beneficiary of the VIE. If Citizens is both a variable interest holder and the primary beneficiary of the VIE, it would be required to consolidate the VIE. As of December 31, 2020, the Company concluded that both their investment in asset-backed securities as well as the primary servicing fee are considered variable interests in the VIE as there is a possibility, even if remote, that would result in either the Company’s interest in the asset-backed securities or the primary servicing fee absorbing some of the losses of the VIE.

After concluding that the Company has one or more variable interests in the VIE, the Company must determine if the Company is the primary beneficiary of the VIE. GAAP defines the primary beneficiary as the entity that has both an economic exposure to the VIE as well as the power to direct the activities that are determined to be most significant to the economic performance of the VIE. In order to make this determination, the Company needed to first establish which activities are the most significant to the economic performance of the VIE. Based on a review of the historical performance of the types of education loans sold to the VIE, as well as consideration of which activities performed by the owner or servicer of the loans contribute most significantly to the ultimate performance of the loans, the Company concluded that the determination of the assets to be purchased by the VIE and the servicing activities that are performed for significantly delinquent loans are the activities that most significantly impact the performance of the loans, and thus the performance of the VIE holding these assets. As a result, the Company concluded that the entity that controls the determination of the assets to be purchased by the VIE and the servicing activities on significantly delinquent loans controls the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the VIE. As part of the sale process, the equity holder in the VIE had the ability to remove loans from the proposed sale pool, demonstrating control over the determination of the assets to be purchased. In addition, as a holder of asset-backed securities and the primary servicer of the loans, Citizens does not have the power to direct servicing of significantly delinquent loans. These rights are reserved for the third-party special servicer of the loans, who is controlled through a contractual relationship with the equity investor in the VIE. As the activities which most significantly affect the performance of the VIE are controlled by the equity holder in the VIE, and not by Citizens, the Company has concluded that Citizens is therefore not the primary beneficiary. Accordingly, Citizens does not consolidate the VIE and accounts for its investment in the asset-backed securities as HTM securities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Renewable Energy Entities

The Company’s investments in renewable energy entities provide benefits from a return generated by government incentives plus other tax attributes that are associated with tax ownership (e.g., tax depreciation). As a tax equity investor, Citizens does not have the power to direct the activities which most significantly affect the performance of these entities and therefore is not the primary beneficiary of any renewable energy entities. Accordingly, Citizens does not consolidate these VIEs and accounts for these investments in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.