CIBC CEO Victor Dodig made $8.15 million in direct compensation last year, and his total compensation reached $8.54 million.

In its proxy circular, CIBC’s board said Dodig deserved the amount because fiscal 2015 adjusted EPS was $9.45, 3% above target and 6% higher than fiscal 2014. He also improved the firm’s adjusted revenue by 6% over the previous year, putting year-over-year growth at fourth among major Canadian banks.

The board noted, however, that return on assets was “down slightly from fiscal 2014, and third among peers.”

TD’s CEO, Bharat Masrani, made $10.7 million in 2015. The remaining Big 5 have yet to release their executive compensation statements.

CIBC’s group head of Retail and Business Banking, David Williamson, got a 2% raise on his direct compensation, making it $4.85 million. The board’s rationale was that “adjusted fiscal 2015 revenue for Retail and Business Banking was 1% above target and up 5% from fiscal 2014, primarily on the strength of lending and deposit growth.” His total compensation was $5.05 million.

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Say on pay and gender targets

CIBC’s circular highlighted the bank’s struggle with shareholder approval of executive compensation, also known as “say on pay.”

“We were disappointed with our say on pay vote result last year, where only 43% of voting shareholders supported our executive compensation approach,” the board notes. CIBC point out that:

  • executive pensions are capped at $1 million;
  • it doesn’t guarantee severance payments in its executive contracts; and
  • it has eliminated quarterly cash dividend payouts on unvested share units.

The board also noted that its previous CEO, Gerald McCaughey, had an employment contract, while Dodig does not.

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CIBC also has a goal of at least 30% to 35% women in executive officer roles by 2018. “At the end of the fiscal year, 29% of these roles were held by women and 27% (3/11) of executive committee members were women,” the board says. “Consideration is given to gender diversity during the executive appointment process through the use of slates, when filling executive roles, and by showing the impact of proposed appointments on gender representation at the time of approval.”