Royal Bank of Canada has appointed interim CFO Katherine Gibson to the role permanently, effective immediately, the bank said Thursday.
Gibson emerged as the top choice for the position after an extensive worldwide search, RBC CEO Dave McKay said in a statement.
“Katherine is an outstanding senior executive with global financial insights and leadership capabilities who can continue to advance our strategic priorities and position RBC for the future,” McKay said. “She is a respected and experienced leader who brings deep expertise in business and global enterprise finance and has been a tremendous contributor and strategic advisor as interim CFO for the past five months.”
Gibson was named interim CFO on April 5, after the bank dismissed its then-CFO, Nadine Ahn over what it called an “undisclosed close personal relationship” with a treasury executive at the bank. That executive, Ken Mason, was also fired in April.
Promoting Gibson presumably puts more distance between the bank and its ensuing legal battle with her predecessor.
Ahn and Mason have both said their connection was merely a work friendship, and each has sued RBC for millions of dollars in damages. RBC, in return, has countersued Ahn and Mason to claw back what it has called excessive compensation. The bank additionally argued Ahn used her position to secure a promotion for Mason.
Gibson joined RBC in 2002 as senior director of finance and later served as a vice president in the bank’s wealth-management unit, according to her LinkedIn profile. She rose to become RBC’s controller, the position she held in April, when she was tapped as interim CFO.
Gibson will oversee finance for all businesses and functions, enterprise financial planning, analysis and reporting, along with taxation, corporate treasury, investor relations, performance management and corporate development, the bank said.
The appointment comes at a crucial time for RBC. The bank is shuffling its leadership team and splitting its largest division – personal and commercial banking – into two units after RBC completed its acquisition in March of HSBC’s Canadian retail footprint.
