rebranded as Citizens Bank. The name change officially took place on 27 April 2015, bringing to an end the name Charter One in Cleveland; the city in which it was founded. Financial crisis In May 2008, Citizens Financial Group failed to publicly announce that it was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its involvement in the sub-prime mortgage crisis that devastated the U.S. housing market and bond investors around the world. The SEC only investigated banks if suspected of involvement in the purchase and sale of subprime securities. In 2008, the company lost $929 million and anticipated writing off $2 billion in bad loans. Royal Bank of Scotland posted the biggest loss in British corporate history and announced cost-cutting measures at Citizens. A Philadelphia developer sued Citizens Bank 27 January 2010, for $8 billion, under a claim that the bank used sham accusations of default to recall loans in an effort to prop up its failing parent companies, Citizens Financial Group and "its ultimate parent, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group." The Road to IPO Following the effective nationalization of RBS in 2008, speculation arose as to whether RBS would retain Citizens Bank. In 2012, public pressure in the United Kingdom grew for RBS to focus on its home market and sell foreign assets, including Citizens Bank, in order for UK taxpayers to earn their money back. Substantial interest in Citizens Bank had been rumored from other foreign banks such as Brazil-based Itaú Unibanco and Canada-based Toronto-Dominion Bank, the latter of which already had an existing U.S. branch network that overlapped with the existing Citizen footprint east of the Appalachian Mountains. The Bank of Montreal, with its existing U.S. presence, was also mentioned as a possible buyer. U.S. banks mentioned as potential Citizens buyers included JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp, PNC Financial Services, and Fifth Third Bank. In February 2013, RBS confirmed at least a partial spinoff of Citizens through an initial public offering within the next two years. Then in October 2013, RBS announced it would sell its Chicago-area branches, which represented 6% of its U.S. deposits; Citizens later agreed to sell those branches to U.S. Bancorp on 7 January 2014. Finally in November 2013, RBS announced that it would divest all of Citizens Financial Group. The bank began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CFG on 24 September