Executive Management Team
- Thomas S. Monahan, President and Chief Executive Officer
- Rob Ferguson, Senior Vice President, Capital Markets
- Mark R. Hemingway, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Governance and General Counsel
- Claire Johnson, Head of Marketing and Product
- David S. Linds, Senior Vice President, Business Development and Relationship Management
- Brian M. Naish, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
- Helen S. Polatajko, Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer
- Kelly Hastings, Vice President and Chief Risk Officer
- Robert M. Shier, Senior Vice President, Chief Operations Officer
- Sue Simone, Senior Vice President, Human Resources
President and Chief Executive Officer
Thomas S. Monahan is President and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC Mellon, one of Canada’s leaders in asset servicing. CIBC Mellon is 50-50 jointly owned by BNY Mellon and CIBC.
Mr. Monahan is responsible for the overall strategy and performance of CIBC Mellon. He has more than 30 years of experience in the investment industry. Prior to assuming his current role, he was Head of CIBC Woody Gundy for 10 years and was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC Investor Services Inc. for seven years. Mr. Monahan's career in the investment industry began at the Montreal Stock Exchange and Merrill Lynch Canada. He has held progressively senior positions at CIBC World Markets and BMO Nesbitt Burns.
A native of Montreal, Mr. Monahan has a bachelor of commerce degree from McGill University.
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Senior Vice President, Capital Markets
Rob Ferguson is Senior Vice President, Capital Markets. He is also a member of the company's executive management committee.
Mr. Ferguson is responsible for CIBC Mellon's capital markets functions, including global securities lending, foreign exchange, transition management and commission recapture.
Mr. Ferguson has more than 20 years of experience in securities lending. He joined CIBC Mellon at the company's inception in 1996, coming from a securities lending system provider. Prior to his current role, he was responsible for executing critical functions of CIBC Mellon's global securities lending program as Vice President, GSL Product and Client Service.
Mr. Ferguson has a degree in economics from York University.
Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Governance and General Counsel
Mark R. Hemingway is Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Governance and General Counsel 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.
Head of Marketing and Product
Claire Johnson is Head of Marketing, Product and Client Integration Solutions groups at CIBC Mellon.
In this role, Ms. Johnson is responsible for the fulfillment of strategic corporate objectives through the development and implementation of the company's marketing, product and client service plans. This responsibility includes the full range of product life cycle, branding and client integration activities that meet the needs of CIBC Mellon's clients and prospects. Additionally, Ms. Johnson is responsible for CIBC Mellon's corporate affairs activities which include public relations, external and internal communications and corporate social responsibility strategic support.
Ms. Johnson has held progressively senior roles within CIBC Mellon, giving her a breadth of perspective from which she draws in her current role. She joined CIBC Mellon in 1997 as Senior Manager of the Investment Funds Accounting Department. Following this role, Claire was Director, Business Development, and Vice President, Product Management, Client Integration Solutions and Business Development Communications.
She is a chartered accountant with more than 18 years of industry experience. Prior to joining CIBC Mellon, Ms. Johnson gained operations and investment fund audit experience working for PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Ms. Johnson is committed to industry involvement and has served as an active member of the IFIC sub-committees and the CCMA. She is a member of AIMA and Women in Hedge Funds. She received her bachelor of commerce degree at Queen’s University.
Senior Vice President, Business Development and Relationship Management
David S. Linds is Senior Vice President, Business Development and 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 and relationship management activities.
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 as Chairman of the board of directors for Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir. 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 Financial Officer
Brian Naish is Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer at CIBC Mellon. He is also a member of the company’s executive management committee.
Mr. Naish is responsible for CIBC Mellon’s finance function, including treasury, planning and analysis, accounting, corporate taxation and financial reporting. In addition to this role, Mr. Naish oversees CIBC Mellon’s office services and facilities departments.
Mr. Naish joined CIBC Mellon in 2004, bringing extensive international financial expertise to the company. Prior to joining CIBC Mellon, Mr. Naish spent eight years with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Arthur Andersen, participating in a number of mergers and acquisitions in Canada, Australia and the United States. Mr. Naish has more than 15 years of finance and accounting experience working in the technology, financial, media/ entertainment and telecommunications industries.
Mr. Naish is a chartered accountant and certified public accountant (California). He received his bachelor's degree from McGill University in Montreal.
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 more than 30 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.
In addition to these responsibilities, Ms. Polatajko serves on the board of directors for the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO).
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.
Vice President and Chief Risk Officer
Kelly Hastings is Vice President and Chief Risk Officer at CIBC Mellon.
Ms. Hastings is responsible for overseeing CIBC Mellon’s risk management framework, which includes credit risk, market risk, operational risk and business continuity. In this role, Ms. Hastings also manages the corporate-wide policy framework, which includes all of CIBC Mellon’s corporate policies. In addition she is responsible for the management of CIBC Mellon’s relationships with its regulators.
Ms. Hastings joined CIBC Mellon in 2008, bringing more than 25 years of industry experience to the company. Prior to her tenure at CIBC Mellon, she held a variety of senior credit and risk positions, with a primary focus on providing support for capital-markets-related businesses.
Ms. Hastings holds an HBA from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from York University.
Senior Vice President, Chief Operations Officer
Robert M. Shier is Senior Vice President, 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.
Mr. Shier joined CIBC Mellon in 1997. He 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, Human Resources
Sue Simone is Senior Vice President, Human Resources at CIBC Mellon and is a member of the company’s executive management committee.
Ms. Simone has overall leadership responsibility for the company’s human resources strategy and function. She joined CIBC Mellon in 2010, bringing more than 20 years of extensive human resources expertise in the financial sector to the company. Prior to joining CIBC Mellon, she worked for CIBC in the retail and wealth management businesses handling all aspects of human resources operations.
Ms. Simone earned her Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and her certification in Alternate Dispute Resolution from the University of Windsor. She is also a member of the Human Resources Professionals Association.