Dive Brief:
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CEO Victor Dodig will retire Oct. 31, the bank announced Thursday.
- Harry Culham, the bank’s head of capital markets, asset management and enterprise strategy, will become CIBC’s chief operating officer, effective April 1, and succeed Dodig as CEO on Nov. 1, the bank said.
- Dodig will serve as a special adviser to Culham and CIBC’s board from November until April 2026. His departure will leave Royal Bank of Canada’s Dave McKay as the longest-serving CEO at a Big Six Canadian bank. Dodig ascended to the top role in September 2014; McKay began leading RBC a month earlier.
Dive Insight:
Thursday’s announcement caps the rise of Culham, who began at CIBC as a Vancouver-based intern in one of the bank’s first graduate programs. He left CIBC at one point and rejoined in 2008, serving in Europe- and Asia-based roles before being named to lead the bank’s capital-markets operation in 2015.
"Harry's approach to creating shareholder value through disciplined execution, prudent and risk-controlled growth, and a focus on clients are ideally suited to furthering CIBC's momentum," Kate Stevenson, the bank’s board chair, said in a statement Thursday. “Today's announcement … will ensure CIBC continues to grow in a consistent and sustainable way, creating enduring value for stakeholders."
Culham said he is “delighted” to take on new responsibilities.
"I am enormously proud of the work we have done under Victor's leadership and am excited to build on our current momentum to fully realize the value of the strategy we have put in place over the past several years," he said Thursday.
Dodig’s transition will be the second CEO changeover among Big Six Canadian banks this year. Raymond Chun became CEO at TD in February, when his predecessor Bharat Masrani’s departure was accelerated after the bank took more than $3 billion in penalties last year as regulators found anti-money laundering deficiencies. TD also agreed to an asset cap of $434 billion on its U.S. retail operations.
Under Dodig, CIBC – Canada’s fifth-largest bank – boosted its presence in U.S. commercial banking and wealth management with a $3.8 billion acquisition of Chicago-based PrivateBancorp in 2016.
Dodig’s upcoming departure will mark the end of a two-decade tenure at CIBC. He joined the bank in 2005 as an executive vice president in wealth management, according to his LinkedIn profile. Dodig began his career in 1994 as a management consultant for McKinsey, and served in managing director roles at Merrill Lynch and UBS before jumping to CIBC, according to LinkedIn.
Dodig on Thursday said “the time is right to hand the baton to Harry.”
"It has been an honor to lead CIBC and work alongside such a dedicated and purpose-led team," Dodig said. "Together, we have built a strong foundation for the future, with a clear and consistent strategy focused on client relationships, financial strength, innovation, sustainability and genuine community engagement.”
Stevenson said Dodig’s stint as CEO “has been marked by a relentless focus on our clients and an unwavering commitment to transforming CIBC into the modern, relationship-oriented bank it is today, with a connected culture that brings the best of CIBC to its clients.”
Dodig received C$13.1 million ($9.1 million) in 2024, representing a 22.4% compensation bump, CIBC disclosed last week. That’s 19% above the C$11 million target the bank set for him.
