Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Scotiabank Financials Summit Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : So maybe starting with Victor. Probably the most obvious question to ask you is just on any reflections you might have as you sort of look to step away. And a lot to be proud of in terms of how the stock has performed lately. And what are your sort of reflections on what CIBC looks like today versus what it might have been prior to your tenure in 2014 when you took over?

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : So with that, perfect time to ask Harry to maybe chime in and maybe just talk about your top priorities as you -- and big congrats, obviously, on the appointment. Your top priorities at the outset, and if you are planning an Investor Day in 2026. I don't want to front-run that. That's obviously a second question, is will investors look forward to an Investor Day where you could sort of provide a bit of a strategic refresh and your priorities as CEO? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 03, 2025 / 3:10PM, CM.TO - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Scotiabank Financials Summit Harry Culham - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce - Senior Executive Vice-President and Group Head, Capital Markets, Global Asset Management and Enterprise Strategy Excellent. Well, first of all, I'd reiterate what Victor said. Thank you. Thank you for your partnership, for your support as shareholders. I am privileged to be sitting here in front of all of you and obviously humbled to take on this role. What I would say is that in terms of near-term priorities, Victor and I have been very, very focused on a seamless transition, really around our clients, around our teammates, as Victor mentioned, and, of course, all of our stakeholders, including our shareholders. And it's going well so far. We've got some work to do still, but we're very focused on that in the near term. And as we look forward, capitalizing on the momentum that Victor mentioned a moment ago is really, really important as we think about that execution with excellence of our strategy that we believe in as an organization that our team believes in, doubling down on our client focus, our connectivity that we've been talking about for a decade, that really delivering all of our bank to our clients in a risk-controlled manner, really, really important. Victor talked about that middle, that modernization, that drive for efficiencies, the use of new technology is so important as we think about the balance between efficiencies and investment, and of course, our human capital. And there's nothing more important than our teammates and getting that productivity up. So those are the priorities as we think forward to enable that strategic execution. In terms of the Investor Day, I think it'd be very important for us to lay out our vision, a continuation of our vision, of our strategy which has worked so well. And with our executive team over the next while, we'll be coming back to you with a proper date in 2026 to lay out our priorities and our vision as we move forward to the next chapter.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Got it. But it sounds like it's going to be -- it's going to remain an important driver for you as well and sort of and your North Star kind of as well. How do you see ROE, and is it really just a continuation of what the progress you've been making lately, driving it higher? Harry Culham - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce - Senior Executive Vice-President and Group Head, Capital Markets, Global Asset Management and Enterprise Strategy I think we use the word continuity a lot. It's really, really important. We've made great progress, obviously, with more capital over the last while, hitting 14.6%, Jeff will keep me honest, year-to-date in ROE. We've targeted north of 15%, as you know. And you mentioned the word North Star. It's a bit overused, but we talk about it a lot. Our executive committee is very focused on it with our finance colleagues driving the bus on this. And so it's very, very important to us that we drive north of 15%, but we're really focused on that execution of the strategy, which enables that ROE to grow. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 03, 2025 / 3:10PM, CM.TO - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Scotiabank Financials Summit And so that deep client focus, that connectivity we talked about, finding that balance between efficiencies and investments, so important to driving the ROE. And of course, we have the balance sheet management, which can come into play as well over time.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Well, I mean, you should. So I guess the genesis of the question is, if you sort of look at CIBC in historical times, it had been sort of perceived as the bank that might hit a few road bumps in a credit cycle, the bad part of a credit cycle. We're in the midst of a credit cycle, not a horrible one certainly, but the outperformance has been pretty notable for CIBC on the impaired loan PCLs. And I have to ask, what's different? What is it that's changed that has made CIBC now the credit outperformer when things get a little bit sort of volatile in the economy?

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Yeah. Awesome. Maybe on capital deployment for Harry, obviously, I think, Victor, I can almost say verbatim what your capital priorities are because you've been so consistent in that message. But obviously, organic growth is number one. For Harry, how do you sort of think about buybacks maybe being amped up a little bit? Maybe even M&A, whether it's tuck-in, and maybe we can get a bit more of a detailed discussion on the M&A potential. But if you do get an environment here where maybe the loan growth just is not recovering as quickly across your business lines in Canada for the foreseeable future, does that sort of make you more likely to do perhaps more M&A or buybacks? Harry Culham - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce - Senior Executive Vice-President and Group Head, Capital Markets, Global Asset Management and Enterprise Strategy So the first thing I'd say is I've had the privilege of sitting with Victor for 11 years next to him. So the strategy that we have is developed by our executive team. And the strategy encompasses where we deploy our capital, how we deploy our capital. And that has evolved over time, obviously, as the world changes. But we're in a position now where we have, obviously, excess capital. We feel very good about our capital levels. We also feel very good about where we're headed over time. Priority number one is organic growth. We're really focused on devoting capital to our core clients, the millions of core clients that we have across all of our lines of businesses. And we've got great momentum, as you saw over the last many quarters, in deploying our capital to our clients. And so that would be priority number one. Of course, again, we want to continue to invest in our bank, into the infrastructure of our bank. That's very, very important. The drive towards efficiency, the drive towards modernization, very, very important. So it's clients, it's modernization of our bank with a really good balance. And then, of course, we've got dividends. We've got return of capital to shareholders and buybacks that you mentioned. And I see Rob Sedran over in the corner frowning at me, making sure I'm going to say the right things. But as CFO, we're all over this. We talk about it all the time. We're clearly focused on utilizing our buyback capability. We renewed our NCIB, as you know. And we have flexibility. So we have flexibility around where and how we deploy our capital and the timing of how we deploy our capital. In terms of M&A, another lever, of course, we've been very focused on tuck-in acquisitions. We've had some very good success south of the border with respect to our wealth management franchise. I think we've been quite vocal on the growth of our wealth management business, higher ROE businesses in general. And we could talk more about that across various different businesses. That's where we're going to continue to deploy capital, but I would look at it more as tuck-in opportunities that are accretive to ROE over the medium term. So no surprises, more of the same. We speak the same voice, having sat next to each other for 11 years.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Maybe switching over to Harry, just on commercial banking and wealth, like that connectivity in Canada. As you step into the CEO role, do you have any thoughts to offer on that? I know it's an important aspect of every bank's strategy, getting that continuity, the connection between the client base. How do you see that sort of evolving for CIBC? Harry Culham - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce - Senior Executive Vice-President and Group Head, Capital Markets, Global Asset Management and Enterprise Strategy It's just how we operate every single day. It's how we talk about business. It's how we just work with our clients. We expect our entire organization to be delivered to our clients. It's just part of the DNA of the organization, of our bank. We've been doing it for a long time. It's interesting, Victor. You go back, and Victor and I both read volume five of our history, 1973 to 1999. We were innovative. We were client focused. We were team focused. We had an excellent culture. We've got that back now. And now we're focused on that momentum and going to the next level around that connectivity. So commercial and wealth is a perfect example where these groups work together hand in hand. The referrals between the two is exceptional. It's growing. It's growing regularly, both north and south of the border. It also is growing with capital markets. So it isn't a relationship manager's job just to deliver capital markets products. It's also to deliver everything our bank can offer -- to the C-suite, to the average client out there, important client of ours, that they see the entire bank. So that connectivity really does work for us. It's how we operate day in and day out. It's been part of our history.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Okay, thanks for that color. Harry, just on the [RESL] exposure, and I guess this is also one of those legacy things which is quickly dissipating. I don't think people look at CIBC the same way in terms of the fact that it has a bit more residual exposure in Canada as being necessarily a negative. Obviously, the spreads in that business don't tend to be too high, and I think Hratch has been clear on recent calls that it's a lot smaller of a contributor to the retail business. But what would you sort of say to some maybe detractors that still look at CIBC and say, well, too much RESL exposure, Canadian housing is not looking so great right now. Any thoughts on that? Harry Culham - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce - Senior Executive Vice-President and Group Head, Capital Markets, Global Asset Management and Enterprise Strategy I'd go back to the comments that Victor made earlier about our ability to manage risk and adjudicate. We're really good at it, and we've proven that through cycles. And so we're really pleased with that, first instance. The second thing I'd say is that it goes back to our strategy, building deep relationships with those 13 million clients we have, franchising those clients. That's really, really important, understanding your client base. We use a lot of data, we use a lot of analytics to understand our client base, to also understand how we can franchise them if they're not. We're also focused on, from RESL perspective, the renewal space. Everybody's read about the size of the renewals coming about and we're very focused on retaining the most valuable clients. So that trade-off between revenue and returns is really important to us. And our core client base will fight day in, day out to ensure that we maintain those relationships at the highest level. Very, very important. I think we'll grow at and around industry average. We'll keep up with the industry, but it's more about generating the returns and building for the growth of the future around franchising. That's really got us to a good place at the moment. And you see the results. And I think having Haraj, our former CFO, very focused on strategy, very focused on the numbers, leading that business has been exceptional.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Maybe switching over to cap markets. Obviously, you're in the neck of the woods, Harry. What's the strategy in cap markets, just high level, and why has it been working? I know there's been a much more strategic approach to the US part of the business. Maybe talk about just overall where you see the business going, and then speak specifically, if you can, on the US side as well. Obviously, the bank has had different levels of exposure and breadth in the US cap markets business over the very long term, and it seems like it's a lot more concentrated now to the betterment of the bank. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 03, 2025 / 3:10PM, CM.TO - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Scotiabank Financials Summit Harry Culham - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce - Senior Executive Vice-President and Group Head, Capital Markets, Global Asset Management and Enterprise Strategy We had the opportunity to rebuild the capital markets business 15 years ago. And for the last 10 or 12 years, I think we've outperformed our peers in terms of revenue, NIAT, pre-provision, pre-tax, earnings basis, all based on delivering the entire capital markets platform and our bank to our

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : I'd love to ask a follow up just on that connectivity. And obviously, there have been a lot of changes since Victor became CEO in 2014. Any examples you can give on what you've sort of seen operationally that's really changed things? Harry Culham - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce - Senior Executive Vice-President and Group Head, Capital Markets, Global Asset Management and Enterprise Strategy Since Victor came in? Well, listen, we put the pin on. This is a CIBC pin. It's not a Capital Markets pin. And by the way, if you ask anybody, they'll say the same thing. We work for our bank with a great history and a great history of working with our clients, with our team, our culture, et cetera. We've got the Run for the Cure coming up in a few weeks' time. Hopefully, some of you will be there. Just things like that matter. They've always mattered to CIBC. Victor emphasized that importance of our cultural connectivity. I would say what we learned over the last decade under Victor's leadership was everybody matters. So when you got up in the morning in April of 2020 and the world was falling apart, we knew that the infrastructure teams were all there. They're all there helping deliver for our clients, for our shareholders, for all of our stakeholders to ensure that our bank was going to be there when it was required to be there. And so we've proven, I think, over cycles now, that that culture of connectivity under Victor's leadership, leading with our clients first, matters. And now you're seeing it come through in the results.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Well, thank you, gentlemen. As we sort of wind down our time slot here, some final words, maybe starting with Harry. And then we have to give the last word to Victor, who's going into his retirement soon after a very amazing run at CIBC, especially in the last few years, given the stock prices' outperformance. So maybe starting with Harry, any key messages? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 03, 2025 / 3:10PM, CM.TO - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Scotiabank Financials Summit Harry Culham - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce - Senior Executive Vice-President and Group Head, Capital Markets, Global Asset Management and Enterprise Strategy Well, I think the message is continuity. Continuity in the momentum and the trajectory we're on; and hopefully, we can take that a little higher with some of the things we've talked about today. I think the team is highly engaged, highly engaged with our clients, highly engaged with all of our stakeholders, back to front. Infrastructure, front office, et cetera. So we've got an engaged team. The culture is excellent. We're in a good spot. And I'd just like to thank all of our shareholders for your engagement over the years. I look forward to partnering with you as we move forward and we're always accessible. So maybe I'll pass over to Victor for the last one.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Thank you very much, gentlemen. Harry Culham - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce - Senior Executive Vice-President and Group Head, Capital Markets, Global Asset Management and Enterprise Strategy Thank you.