Royal Bank of Canada fires CFO for ‘undisclosed relationship’ with another employee

Royal Bank of Canada fires CFO for ‘undisclosed relationship’ with another employee

Toronto: Canada’s largest bank, Royal Bank of Canada, sacked a high-profile executive after they found that she was in an “undisclosed personal relationship” with another employee. The unnamed employee as well as Chief Financial Officer Nadine Ahn’s employment have been terminated.

The bank said that in contravention to the RBC Code of Conduct, Ahn was in an undisclosed relationship with another employee that led to the “preferential treatment of the employee including promotion and compensation increases”. “As a result, the two individuals have had their employment terminated,” RBC said in a statement, adding that the lender launched an internal review and engaged outside counsel to investigate the matter as soon as they were made aware of the allegations involving Ahn.

“The investigation found no evidence of conduct by the former CFO or the other employee with respect to the bank’s previously issued financial statements, RBC’s strategy or its financial or business performance,” Royal Bank of Canada said.

The Canadian lender appointed Katherine Gibson as the interim CFO. Gibson has been with the bank for 22 years, most recently as SVP, Finance & Controller.

WHO IS NADINE AHN?

Nadine Ahn has been with the Canadian lender for nearly 20 years. She had joined RBC as a Senior Manager, Funds Transfer Pricing, Corporate Treasury in 2002, a role she continued till 2006, after which she served as Senior Manager, ALM Corporate Treasury from 2007 to 2009. She then served as MD and Head of EnterpriseLiquidity Risk Measurement, Corporate Treasury from 2010 to 2014, after which she was made Vice President, Global Financial Controller till 2016.

In 2016 Nadine Ahn was appointed as the Senior Vice President, Wholesale Finance and Investor Relations, a role she served till 2021. In 2021, Nadine Ahn was made the Chief Financial Officer, a role she held till she was fired on April 5.

Before spending nearly 20 years in RBC, Nadine Ahn had served as Manager, Accounting Policy in TD from 1997 to 1999. She had also worked as Audit Senior in PwC from 1994 to 1997. Nadine Ahn has a degree in Business/Commerce from University of Toronto, and a degree in Chartered Accountancy from Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.