Executive Management Team
- Thomas C. MacMillan, president and chief executive officer
- Mark R. Hemingway, senior vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer and secretary
- David S. Linds, senior vice president, business development and client relationship management
- Helen S. Polatajko, senior vice president, chief information officer
- Robert M. Shier, senior vice president, chief operations officer
- James E.R. Slater, senior vice president, capital markets
- Rajesh Uttamchandani, senior vice president, human resources
President and chief executive officer
Thomas C. MacMillan is president and chief executive officer of CIBC Mellon, one of Canada’s leaders in asset servicing and issuer services. CIBC Mellon is 50-50 jointly owned by CIBC, and The Bank of New York Mellon.
Mr. MacMillan is responsible for the overall direction and success of CIBC Mellon. He has more than 30 years of extensive experience in the financial services industry in both Canada and the United States. Prior to assuming his current role in 1998, he was chairman, president and chief executive officer of Mellon Bank Canada. Mr. MacMillan was instrumental in the formation of our joint venture, and previously held various senior positions with the Bank of Montreal, Chase Manhattan Bank of Canada and Montreal Trust.
In addition to his CIBC Mellon responsibilities, Mr. MacMillan serves as chair of The Corporation of Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall. Past board memberships include Canadian Capital Markets Association, North Toronto Hockey Association, Ontario Centre for Environmental Technical Advancement, Branksome Hall School and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.
A native of Toronto, Mr. MacMillan received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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Senior vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer and secretary
Mark R. Hemingway is senior vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer and secretary at CIBC Mellon. He is also a member of the company’s executive management committee.
Mr. Hemingway is responsible for the legal, compliance, corporate secretarial and privacy functions at CIBC Mellon.
Mr. Hemingway has 20 years of experience in the legal profession. Prior to joining CIBC Mellon, he held general counsel and corporate secretary positions in a number of large Canadian companies. Mr. Hemingway was also previously a litigation lawyer at Torys.
He received his law degree from Queen’s University and his master of laws degree from Cambridge University. He articled at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Senior vice president, business development and client relationship management
David S. Linds is senior vice president, business development and client relationship management at CIBC Mellon. He is also a member of the company’s executive management committee.
Through the creation, communication and execution of strategic business plans, Mr. Linds manages CIBC Mellon's business development, relationship management and national marketing activities for our asset servicing, trust and stock transfer products and services. He also oversees the company's product management and client integration solutions group, which is responsible for ensuring existing and future development of products and services as well as client reporting needs of institutional clients for asset servicing and ancillary services.
Mr. Linds has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, including 18 years with CIBC World Markets and CIBC Mellon. While at CIBC World Markets, he was part of the team charged with the formation of CIBC Mellon.
In addition to his CIBC Mellon responsibilities, Mr. Linds serves on the board of directors for Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. He maintains an active role in many industry associations and is well-known in the asset servicing and trust industries.
Mr. Linds received an honours bachelor’s degree from Trinity College, University of Toronto.
Senior vice president, chief information officer
Helen S. Polatajko is senior vice president, chief information officer at CIBC Mellon. She is also a member of the company's executive management committee.
Ms. Polatajko has overall responsibility for the strategic direction and management of our company’s information technology function.
Ms. Polatajko has 32 years of extensive experience in the technology services field. Prior to joining CIBC Mellon in 1998 as chief information officer, she was CIO at a former Mellon subsidiary in Houston, Texas.
In 1996, Ms. Polatajko was recognized by the McGraw-Hill group of companies as one of the Top 100 Women in Computing, acknowledging her achievements and contributions to information services and technology.
In May 2003, she was featured on the cover of CIO Canada for an article entitled "Fusing Business and Technology.” Since 2004, Ms. Polatajko has served on the judging panel of the Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA). In 2005, she joined the CIO Executive Council as an advisory board representative.
Ms. Polatajko received her education from The University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from The Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware.
Senior vice president and chief operations officer
Robert M. Shier is senior vice president and chief operations officer at CIBC Mellon. He is also a member of the company's executive management committee.
Mr. Shier is responsible for CIBC Mellon’s operational divisions, including client and investment management services, asset servicing, investment fund accounting for the CIBC Mellon Global Securities Services Company and investor services, stock transfer and employee plan administration for CIBC Mellon Trust Company.
Mr. Shier joined CIBC Mellon in 1997, and has more than 25 years of operational experience in financial services including brokerage, banking, asset servicing and transfer agency services.
Committed to industry involvement, Mr. Shier previously served on the boards of the CDSX Development Review Committee for The Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS) and currently serves on the Canadian Capital Markets Association (CCMA) board of directors.
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Senior vice president, capital markets
James E.R. Slater is senior vice president, capital markets at CIBC Mellon. He is also a member of the company’s executive management committee.
Mr. Slater has overall leadership responsibility for CIBC Mellon’s capital markets function, which includes global securities lending, treasury and cash management. Mr. Slater’s accountabilities also include providing strategic client service engagement in relation to his trading and financial markets responsibilities. He also chairs the company’s asset liability committee.
Mr. Slater has 20 years of experience in the financial services industry with CIBC World Markets and CIBC Mellon. While at CIBC World Markets, he was part of the team charged with the formation of CIBC Mellon.
Mr. Slater has an MBA from Queen’s University.
Senior vice president, human resources
Rajesh Uttamchandani is senior vice president of human resources at CIBC Mellon. He is also a member of the company’s executive management committee.
Mr. Uttamchandani has overall responsibility for the company’s human resources strategy and function. In addition to this role, Mr. Uttamchandani oversees CIBC Mellon's corporate affairs department.
Mr. Uttamchandani joined CIBC Mellon in 2006, bringing extensive human resources and organizational development expertise to the company. He has more than 10 years of human resources experience in the financial services, health care, retail and technology sectors.
Mr. Uttamchandani is a graduate of the University of Toronto where he obtained a B.Sc. and master of industrial relations. He also holds an MBA from the University of Honolulu, as well as both an LL.B. and an LL.M. in labour and employment law from Osgoode Hall Law School.
Mr. Uttamchandani is a member of the Ontario Bar Association, and he also teaches in the master of industrial relations and human resources program at the University of Toronto, where he is president of the alumni association and a member of the College of Electors.