Laurentian Bank of Canada has filled two key roles in its executive ranks, promoting a new chief operating officer from within and plucking its new chief risk officer from Canada’s banking regulator.
Deborah Rose will be the bank’s COO, overseeing administration, technology and operations, while continuing to serve as chief information officer. Most recently, she was chief executive of Laurentian’s B2B Bank division, executive vice president of intermediary banking and CIO.
The bank has also hired Liam Mason to lead its risk division as CRO. Since 2016, Mr. Mason was a managing director and lead supervisor at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), where he supervised Canada’s systemically important banks. He had previously spent nearly three decades in banking at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Laurentian’s current CRO, Susan Kudzman, had previously planned to retire on June 30, but will now stay until Oct. 31 to help with the transition.
The Montreal-based bank is in the midst of overhauling its core banking system in an effort to modernize its systems and launch a new suite of digital products. At the same time, it has been hampered by lingering problems in its mortgage book. After an audit turned up nearly $300-million in mortgages the bank had to buy back because of inadequate documentation or because they were ineligible for securitization, the bank announced in late May that it would need to repurchase another $125-million to $150-million of mortgages insured by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
“We are now entering an important phase of our plan which will see us transitioning to a digital banking model,” said François Desjardins, Laurentian’s chief executive officer, in a statement.
On Thursday, Laurentian also announced it will create a new role for an executive vice-president overseeing personal digital banking, responsible for sales, marketing and digital retail distribution, but the bank hasn’t yet filled the job.
James Bradshaw