Notable and Influential Banking Leaders in Canada

In the past few weeks I have been examining various banks, and the people, which run it. This is to say I have been spending much of my time reading about those who have a lot of authority within the bank and how things are managed.

What you will see here today is 14 notable and influential banking leaders and their accolades.

I want to be successful, I dream about being successful. I am sure many of you also have such dreams of success.The people that will be mentioned here have reached a level of success through hard work and perseverance. They should be commended if not honored for their work. We’d love to give each person a nice shiny new toy like an iPad. But we don’t have the budget for it. This article which will be viewed by thousands of people will have to do.

1. Gordon Nixon

Currently Gordon Nixon is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the largest bank in Canada, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). He was appointed this position on April 1^st, 2001, at the tender age of 43. Making him one of the youngest bank CEOs of Canada in the 20^th century. Considering his Big Six peers were named CEO when they were in there 50s, and being awarded CEO of the year by the Financial Post Business Magazine in 2007, he is already one of the longest tenured CEOs in the industry.

RBC has decided to take steps in helping clients manage their money, as we have recently seen with the recent launch of myFinanceTracker, which is Canada’s first financial management tool that is integrated into an online bank. RBC will not be stopping here, they plan on releasing more products that will help their customers increase their banking experience. I for one can see the next product released being a mobile banking application for smartphones.

2. Gerald T. McCaughey

Gerald T. McCaughey is the current President and CEO of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), one of Canada’s largest banks. McCaughey has quickly risen up within CIBC since joining. He became the president of Woody Gundy Private Client Investments in 1994 and as of 2005 he became the President and CEO of CIBC. McCaughey is a great example that with time and dedication you can rise up within the ranks and becoming the CEO. CIBC recently became the first bank to offer ‘real’ banking online through your mobile phone. More specifically using CIBCs iphone mobile application. We were rather shocked that they provided the first real mobile app for the iPhone. We were expecting RBC or TD to launch a true mobile banking experience before CIBC. But hey, hats off to CIBC. They were really smart in launching a massive marketing campaign to promote the fact that they were the first. They also launched CIBC Switch, which our site was also featured on.

3. Richard E. Waugh

Richard E. Waugh is the current President and CEO of the Bank of Nova Scotia, otherwise known as Scotiabank. Waugh first began his career as a branch employee and over the years he began to move up until 2003 when he became the CEO of Scotiabank. In other words he climbed Scotiabank’s massive corporate ladder to become the top boss. An interesting aspect to mention is, Waugh is 62 and doesn’t look it. Seriously, Bank Guru thought he was in his early 50′s. Is he drinking a lot of prune juice? He has been awarded the merit of honor by the Council of America’s, for his distinguished contribution to the Americas. Waugh was awarded $9.7 million in total direct compensation for last year. His pay and the executive teams pay is based on ‘pay on performance’. A model that has been made famous for the excessive pay some American bankers have received in 2008.

That being said, I’m sure he has done a good job to be awarded that much. I always get the ‘old school’ vibe from Scotiabank, it doesn’t help that most of the older people i know bank with Scotia. Waugh has put his eyes on Asia as the next big expansion for the bank. He plans on expanding to Asia once he has accomplished everything in Latin America. Waugh is definitely one ambitious and hungry executive. He’d be one of the executives I’d enjoy having a talk with over coffee, at a local cafe. I’ve seen him speak before and he comes off as a very intelligent man who is extremely confident when he speaks.

4. Bill Downe

Bill Down became the President and CEO of the Bank of Montreal (BMO) on March 1^st, 2007. Before becoming the CEO, Downe was Deputy Chair of BMO Financial Group and CEO of the investment banking division BMO Nesbitt Burns, which is considered to be the second highest ranking position in the organization. Downe joined BMO in 1983 and held a variety of senior management positions. BMO has projected itself as a customer service orientated bank, though one could argue that every bank is customer service orientated. Bank Guru personally banks with BMO (and also RBC as of recently), he speaks highly of the personal touches the local branches have. Besides branch employees knowing most of their clients by name. It creates a very warm and inviting atmosphere. Downe has continued this culture and attitude.

His wikipedia page is a bit… bare. I’m shocked the PR/Marketing department inside BMO hasn’t made this nice and flashy. We tried helping out BMO by adding in some more information but Wikipedia decided to remove the content and ban us. Sorry BMO, we tried our best.

5. Loius Vachon

In 2007, Loius Vachon became President and CEO of National Bank Financial Group. Vachon has been the man responsible for the strategies, orientations and development of the National Bank Financial Group and its subsidiaries. In 2002, Vachon was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40. National Bank Financial Group is a great bank, and the smallest of the Big Six, an accomplishment I wish to point out is how National Bank Financial Group was the only bank to post a profit in 2008. The ‘dreaded dead’ year filled with many companies going belly up.

Vachon was able to steer the bank to financial profitability during 2008. A fact many people don’t report on or the very least mention. I’m sure the board noticed, they offered Vachon $1.4 million in bonuses for exceeding the objectives set for him. We definitely should be expecting to see this stellar performance continue at National Bank with Vachon at the helm. Especially since the recession isn’t technically over. Bank Guru wants to meet Loius, mainly because we would be in Quebec (We love Quebec) and , I can imagine learning a lot from Louis.

6. William Edmund Clark

William Edmund Clark became the President and CEO of TD Bank Financial Group since December 20^th, 2002. Clark first joined TD Bank Financial Group as the Chairman and CEO of TD Canada Trust, which followed TD’s acquisition Canada Trust Financial Services. He was responsible for overseeing the successful integration of Toronto Dominion/Canada Trust retail and electronic banking operations. TD Bank Financial Group offers great products and services, and their customer service is second to none. Bank Guru begs to differ but that is because he has had a couple ‘sour’ moments with them. A random fact, Clark shares the same name as Scotia Bank’s Jamaican President and CEO.

TD recently entered the Twitter world. Yes, they were on before. But only within the last two week (maybe two weeks) have they taken it seriously. They currently have four individuals tweeting for the brand. Should be interesting to see if TD takes the stance in helping people on Twitter or crash and burn like Nestle.

7. Peter R. Aceto

Peter R. Aceto is the current President and CEO of ING Direct Canada. His career within ING Direct Canada began more than a decade ago as he was a founding member of its senior leadership team. Aceto has focused in providing an outstanding customer experience. ING Direct Canada offers great products, and they have done great things with technology as they introduced the ING Direct mobile banking app. They recently just launched a financial tool for kids to learn about finances by making a game out of it. Bank Guru was also able to interview Mark Nicholson about ING Direct Canada’s methods on using Social Media.

ING Direct Canada has definitely in the last year been a leader in using Social Media. Arguably no other branch has done as well as ING Direct Canada has. Though, TD Bank and Royal Bank of Canada look like they are making a push for it. TD recently launched a Twitter account and RBC is rumored to be developing some useful tools for consumers. Can ING Direct Canada stay on top?

8. Monique F. Leroux

Monique F. Leroux is the current President and CEO of Desjardins Group. Leroux has been in this position since March 2008. Desjardins is the 7^th largest bank in Canada; and Leroux represents all of Desjardins Group caisses and directs the largest cooperative financial group in Canada. She was elected by 256 representatives in the organization to head up the organization on a four-year mandate. I can’t recall any other organization democratically electing its leader in this way. Does Desjardins Group have a House of Commons in their head office? Back in 2008 she was regarded as one of the Top 25 women in Canada to watch in 2008 by Women’s Post.

Desjardin tends to be a bit unnoticed at times, no idea why, they are a great bank and offer great financial products. A product I find to be really amazing is the Desjardin Platinum Credit Card. This probably is one of the best credit cards on the market; it offers great rewards, and cash back on purchases. What more can you ask for in a credit card?

9. Larry M. Pollock

Larry Pollock has been the President and CEO of Canadian Western Bank (CWB) since 1990, making this his 20^th year serving at this position. His experience as an analyst and commercial loan writer has helped benefit CWB over the years. CWB serves personal and commercial clients in Western Canada. Western Canada is also absolutely stunning, especially if you fly into Calgary (you can see the mountains in the distance). Canadian Western Bank is relatively a small operation with only 37 branches in Western Canada. Pollock runs a well oiled ship, we should be able to see an increase in branches as Canada’s economy gets out of this little rut.

Larry has some pretty amazing achievements under his belt. He is the 2007 finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur award. In 2009 he was Awarded recipient of Alberta Venture’s business person of the year. He has also been mentioned as one of Alberta’s 50 most influential individuals. Since we have included him on this list of influential bankers in Canada. Does that mean he is the most influential banker in Alberta?

10. Rejean Robitaille

Rejean Robitaille has been the President and CEO of Laurentian Bank of Canada since December 13^th, 2006. Robitaille has been able to oversee Laurentian Bank of Canada’s continuity, allowing it to grow and develop over the years he has been in charge. In recent developments, Laurentian Bank of Canada was able to win the contract to operate bank machines in Montreal’s subway system. We don’t write much on Laurentian Bank of Canada, mainly because we haven’t heard anything new from them. Plus, their marketing department doesn’t email us any news. Despite this, I find Laurentian Bank of Canada to be a great bank, but it is probably more suitable for those who live in an area where there are many branches and ABMs available, such as Ottawa or Quebec.

11. Michael Garrity

Michael Garrity is the CEO of Community Lend. A peer to peer lending community. Bank Guru wrote about Community Lend and had only positive things to say about it. . Community Lend is an ambitious idea to achieve and it helps Canadians. Not to mention the leader of one of Canada’s newest and brightest financial ideas would be ridiculous on our part. BankNerd.ca will be continuing to watch Community Lend very closely and we are intrigued to see what they will be doing in the future. Garrity has a big battle ahead of him but we have no doubt at all that he is up for the challenge. His calm and easy going personality are fantastic qualities to have in a leader. Watch out banks, Community Lend is a great idea. Being guided by an experienced and determined leader.

12. Bill Cilluffo

President of Capital One Canada and UK. Young guy. Super bright. Bill was appointed President of Capital One Canada of Capital One Financial Corp. since December 2005. Most recently, Bill stepped down as CEO and continues to oversee Capital One’s international card business, while taking on an executive leadership role over the U.S. Card Partnernship team.

Canadian banks have been facing challenge of finding the balance between innovative products and the conservative lending practices that they have become renowned for. Capital One plans on separating from the pack through the use of their Information Based Strategy (IBS). The results are already promising, as you can see the Aspire World MasterCard has been created with the help of what Canadians found difficult with current rewards programs. BankGuru and I both found the Aspire World MasterCard to be a great addition to Capital One’s credit card lineup and cannot wait to see what else they bring out.

13. Francois Desjardins

Francoise Desjardins joined Laurentian Bank where he occupied several positions in retail banking. Francois now runs B2B Trust, Laurentian Bank’s largest subsidiary. In June 2010, Francois was a recipient of the Top 40 under 40 list. B2B Trust provides banking products and services to consumers through a network of independent financial advisers throughout Canada. June 18th, 2010 marked the 10 year anniversary of B2B Trust; in celebration of this occasion B2B Trust opened the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Francois has been known as the “turnaround guy”, a title given to him from the work he has put forth. B2B represented only 8% of Laurentian’s revenue in the past, however it now represents 30%, with Francois improving net profitability of B2B by 81%. Francois worked his way to the top; he started as a customer service rep in 1991, and continued to move onto higher positions.

It goes without saying, Francois has truly shown what the results of working hard can get you and that if you put your mind to something you can accomplish anything.

14. Tim Wilson

Visa Inc. and Visa Canada appointed Tim Wilson as Head of Visa Canada on May 30th, 2008. Tim joined Visa Canada in 2006 as the Senior Vice President of Strategy, Finance and Administration. In his previous role, he was actively shaping Visa Canada’s strategic direction, which has been an ongoing evaluation of Visa’s operations.Needless to say, Tim has definitely played a key role in Visa Canada for the past 4 years.

Visa continues to amaze the public by offering various advancements in services. Recently Visa launched CodeSure technology, which is a fraud preventing technology that generates a one time passcode allowing the authentication of online transactions. These Visa cards would have an alpha numeric display, a 12 button keypad, a microprocessor and a battery allowing the credit card to last 3 years. CodeSure is currently only available in Europe, but who knows, North American could be seeing this product in a few years if credit card fraud increases.

There are many young employees who see their current CEO as a hero, especially if they are trying to worked from the bottom up. The people who have been listed here today have primarily worked their way up from the bottom to the top of their respective banks. It goes to show with hard work and dedication you can achieve practically anything.

We attempted to get photographs of everyone listed here today. For the individuals who did not have an image of themselves. The PR department either did not return our email or did not want to send it our way.