By Nivedita Balu
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian lender CIBC on Thursday named capital markets head Harry Culham as its next CEO, replacing Victor Dodig who will retire in October after over a decade at the top.
Culham will serve as chief operating officer effective April 1 and take over as CEO on November 1, Canada’s fifth largest lender said.
As part of CIBC’s executive shakeup in September, Culham took on additional responsibility to oversee the bank’s global asset management business and enterprise strategy, along with CIBC’s Caribbean business.
Culham will take the top seat during a challenging time for big Canadian banks amid economic uncertainties due to the trade war between the U.S. and Canada.
“I understand risk quite well, (It is) one of my strengths … We’re not worried,” Culham said in an interview.
“We can control the controls, and we think we’re good at that. We went through COVID, we’ve been through other ups and downs.”
The big five lenders have expanded south of the border seeking growth opportunities outside of home but have met many challenges.
More recently, the banks have raked in large profits from wealth and capital market segments, that typically are fee-based and high margin businesses.
CIBC has focused on growing its mass affluent and private wealth franchise in Canada and the U.S while building its digital footprint in Canada and growing its capital markets unit.
“I’m really focused on the bank overall … I don’t see the strategy changing,” Culham said.
Culham first joined CIBC in Vancouver as an intern, participating in the bank’s graduate programs. He held senior banking roles in Europe and Asia before rejoining CIBC in 2008 and taking over as the head of the capital markets segment in 2015.
Under Dodig’s leadership, CIBC expanded its U.S. footprint and also built the bank’s presence at home by adding new clients through the purchase of Costco’s Canadian credit card portfolio.
The bank’s U.S. commercial lending book, however, faced challenges in 2023 due to higher exposure to the troubled U.S. office space compared to peers, but has taken steps to reduce the impact.
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Chris Reese)
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