CIBC - Brian Quinlan

CIBC Positioning For Growth

1999 was a year of change at CIBC: a new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, a new senior executive, re-structuring of business units and new priorities. CIBC's business plan centres around innovation (shaping future direction) and accountability (measuring and demonstrating results). Recognizing that speed, connectivity and the strength of its intangible assets will be its keys to success, CIBC aims to respond quickly to customers, to focus on being connected in the world of e-commerce and to win by improving capital productivity.

New Organizational Structure: CIBC has consolidated its businesses into four strategic units: Electronic Commerce, Technology and Operations, Retail and Small Business Banking, Wealth Management, and CIBC World Markets (corporate and investment banking). The first supports the bank's ongoing technology needs and will spearhead the use of technology to achieve revenue growth and implement new business strategies. The other three are focused on distinct customer groups to ensure a more tailored customer response and a clear measurement of performance. These strategic units are supported by four infrastructure units-Treasury and Balance Sheet Management, Risk Management, Administration, and Corporate Development.

New Projects: The bank is intent on forging a broad variety of strategic alliances and ventures. It has created strategic alliances in electronic banking with major grocery retailers such as Loblaws and Winn-Dixie, under the President's Choice Financial brand in Canada and the Marketplace Bank brand in the U.S. President's Choice Financial is a relatively new product offered through the Loblaw's grocery-supermarket chain. The initiative may now be extended to the U.S. CIBC Mellon Global Securities Services Company is a joint venture between the CIBC and the Canadian subsidiary of the U.S. Mellon Bank. The company was created in late 1996 to market custody services, that is the holding of securities for customers, typically large corporations. One of the newer initiatives is with VeriSign, Inc., related to the issuance and management of digital certificates for the Internet and intranets.

Title: Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel

Age: 57

Organization of the Law Department: The Legal Division has paralleled the bank's reorganization initiatives by creating six Canadian units-CIBC Insurance, World Markets, Wealth Managment, Retail and Small Business, the Montreal Group, and Electronic Banking and Technology. While the alignment began several years ago, as a result of a review commissioned by Quinlan, the changes have only recently been completed. Every effort has been made to avoid insulating lawyers, and to structure the department in such a way that its members can support groups other than their own. There are 30 lawyers, 8 paralegals and a number of support staff in Canada.

Outside counsel perform most of the "customer paid" work, while the Legal Division handles "bank paid" work. Litigation is also managed by the Division, and there is a growing role for lawyers in human resources issues. Because CIBC's lawyers have an intimate knowledge of its policies and practices, the law department is an economically valuable alternative to the use of outside counsel.

Principal Outside Counsel: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP and Stikeman, Elliott. Other Significant Firms: Davis & Co. in Vancouver, Bennett Jones in Calgary, and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. Further significant firms include Cox Hanson O'Reilly Matheson (offices in all four Atlantic Canada provinces) and Benson Myles (offices in Newfoundland) in Atlantic Canada, and Mayer, Brown & Platt in the United States.

Management Challenges: Ensuring that business units receive quick, innovative service, especially with the amount of work being directed to the Legal Division. Brian still spends a great deal of time on high profile projects, and on keeping the legal services team fully motivated. His responsibilities have long since moved past the 'gatekeeper' role for legal services.

Management Style: As part of the ongoing push to maintain extremely high standards, he visits all of CIBC's Canadian business units and law firms annually. Brian's goal is to ensure that his department is the best financial services legal group in Canada when compared to both law departments and law firms.

Career: After a few years in private practice, Brian joined CIBC as one of its first in-house lawyers in 1976. He became a Vice President in 1988 and a Senior Vice President in 1995.

Family: Married to Carolyn, and has 3 grown children: Tim, Kelly and Courtney. Recently promoted to the status of grandfather with the recent arrival of a grandson.

Currently Reading: John Lukacs' Five Days in London, May, 1940, a historical work which examines Churchill's leadership during the calamitous period leading up to the Fall of France when Britain stood alone. (See Book Review in this issue of Lexpert).

Hobbies: Loves golf and travelling with Carolyn to exotic locations. The golf takes second place to travelling.

Richard G. Stock, M.A., FCIS, C.ADM., CMC, is a partner with Catalyst Consulting, a firm with offices in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Catalyst Consulting has been designated the Preferred Supplier for Legal Services Consulting by both the CBA and the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association.