Among other senior executive leadership changes taking effect on May 28, CIBC announced the expansion of the mandate of Stephen Scholtz, the bank’s executive vice president and global chief legal officer, to include corporate governance and sustainability.
“Across each of our businesses in Canada, the U.S., and globally, the disciplined execution of our strategy and a deep commitment to our clients have driven strong business results across our bank,” said Harry Culham, CIBC president and chief executive officer, in a news release.
According to the news release, the recent changes seek to enable CIBC to leverage its team and North American platform to speed up execution.
“The changes we are announcing today are focused on accelerating our progress as a client-focused, connected, and performance-driven bank that creates value for all our stakeholders,” Culham added in CIBC’s news release.
As a North American financial institution, CIBC serves 15 million personal banking, business, public sector, and institutional clients, with locations spanning Canada, the US, and other countries. Its services encompass personal and business banking, commercial banking, wealth management, and capital markets.
More on Scholtz
Back on Aug. 12, 2025, CIBC announced senior leadership appointments to its group executive leadership team, which included Scholtz’s promotion to his current role as global chief legal officer.
“Stephen is a respected leader on our team, and he is well positioned to take on the leadership of our legal affairs globally,” Culham said in CIBC’s prior news release. “His expertise across various facets of legal and wise counsel will be an asset as he steps into his new role.”
In the course of nearly two decades of working at CIBC, Scholtz has held progressively more senior roles within the bank’s legal department.
Specifically, he served as senior vice president and general counsel for Canada, as vice president and deputy general counsel for Canada, and as vice president and associate general counsel – head of litigation and employment law for Canada.
Before joining the bank, Scholtz gained experience at law firms. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked at Ogilvy Renault from 1998–2006 and at McCarthy Tétrault LLP from 1991–98.
He is a graduate of the University of Ottawa.