CIBC revamps executive team in leadership shift
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is revamping its executive team as talk of chief executive officer succession at the country’s fifth-largest lender heats up.
Chief financial officer Hratch Panossian will take on an operating role as head of its personal and business banking business, the Toronto-based bank said a statement Thursday. Panossian will have a joint line of accountability to chief executive Victor Dodig and Jon Hountalas, the group head of Canadian banking.
Dodig has led CIBC since September 2014 and is one of three Canadian bank CEOs with a tenure of about a decade. Speculation about who could eventually be in the running to replace him has been swirling in financial circles in recent months.
The bank lost one of its most obvious candidates last year when Laura Dottori-Attanasio left as head of Canadian banking. She later joined Element Fleet Management Corp. as CEO.
Panossian joined CIBC in 2011 but has so far held roles only on the accounting and financial side. This week’s shuffle will give him experience in one of the bank’s most important business lines and appears to put him in the running as one of a number of potential candidates for CEO.
“Hratch’s expertise in financial services, background in technology and innovation, and commitment to building long-lasting client and team relationships position him well to take on his new role,” Dodig said in the statement.
On top of Hountalas and Panossian, CIBC’s statement also highlighted two other senior leaders who could be considered in the succession race: Harry Culham, the capital markets head who will take on expanded responsibilities for enterprise strategy and corporate development; and Shawn Beber, who will continue in his current role as head of
Read more on financialpost.com
