EDMONTON, AB, April 1, 2022 /CNW/ - Canadian Western Bank (CWB) today announced four new appointments to its executive leadership team. This follows the planned retirements of Carolyn Graham, Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer, Glen Eastwood, Executive Vice President, Business Transformation, and Darrell Jones, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, who will support the transition until their respective retirement dates throughout 2022.

Carolina Parra, CWB's Chief Risk Officer, joined CWB in November 2021. She previously held senior leadership roles with oversight for corporate and commercial risk during her 13-year tenure at a large Canadian bank with an international presence.

"Carolina brings a deep appreciation and understanding of the role that enterprise risk management can play in driving proactive portfolio management, speed, growth and profitability," said Mr. Fowler. "We're thrilled to have Carolina lead CWB's group-wide risk management, including credit, market and operational risk, and oversee our transition to the Advanced Internal Rating Based approach (AIRB) for capital and risk management."

Jeff Wright and John Steeves move into two new executive positions that bolster the voice of our clients at the most senior ranks. Jeff, who has been a senior leader at CWB since 2018, is promoted to Group Head, Client Solutions and Specialized Businesses, where he will continue to oversee CWB's product, client experience and brand strategy, digital transformation, and equipment businesses. Jeff also takes on leadership of CWB's project management office, as well as CWB Optimum Mortgage and CWB Trust Services.

"Jeff has been absolutely critical to the development of our client experience strategy which continues to pay off in terms of the loyalty we enjoy amongst our business clients," said Mr. Fowler. "His enthusiastic, collaborative leadership style coupled with a very strong foundation of industry knowledge and experience makes Jeff the right person to oversee our digital transformation and ensure we're well-positioned to meet the evolving needs of our clients."

John, who previously led CWB's banking centres across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, is appointed to Executive Vice President, Banking. He now provides leadership for CWB's banking centre network cross Canada with a focus on delivering a proactive and differentiated level of banking service, expertise and insight to meet the unique needs of business owners and their families.  

"John's commitment to growing CWB's market share is incredibly strong," said Mr. Fowler. "With more than 30 years of experience at several large financial institutions, John brings a tremendous knowledge of the Canadian banking landscape to our leadership team, and will continue to support our banking centre teams and ensure our clients benefit from the unrivaled client experience we know they want and need."

Azfar Karimuddin, who joined CWB in 2014 and has since held progressive senior information services leadership roles, is appointed to Chief Information Officer.

"Azfar knows how to mobilize technology to enable business growth," said Mr. Fowler. "During his tenure with CWB, Azfar has demonstrated a deep commitment to client-centric decision-making, and a proactive approach to ensuring CWB has the technology to deliver on our strategic priorities."

"We've made significant progress on our journey to become the best bank for business owners in Canada, and I would like to thank Carolyn, Glen and Darrell for their incredible contributions, leadership and expertise," added Mr. Fowler. "We have very strong succession in place, and I am confident that Carolina, Jeff, John and Azfar are the right leaders to continue to build our differentiated client experience and award-winning workplace culture. I enthusiastically welcome them to our Executive Committee alongside Stephen Murphy, Group Head, Commercial, Personal and Wealth, Matt Rudd, Chief Financial Officer, and Kelly Blackett, Chief People and Culture Officer."

For detailed information about CWB's executive team visit cwb.com/executive-team.

CWB Financial Group (CWB) is the only full-service financial institution in Canada with a strategic focus to meet the unique financial needs of businesses and their owners. We provide nation-wide full-service business and personal banking, specialized financing, comprehensive wealth management offerings, and trust services. Our teams deliver a uniquely proactive and differentiated level of service to clients in targeted industries where we have deep expertise. Clients choose CWB for our highly personalized service, specialized expertise, customized solutions and faster response times.

As a public company on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), CWB trades under the symbols "CWB" (common shares), "CWB.PR.B" (Series 5 preferred shares) and "CWB.PR.D" (Series 9 preferred shares). We are firmly committed to the responsible creation of value for all our stakeholders and our approach to sustainability will support our continued success. Learn more at cwb.com.

SOURCE CWB Financial Group

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