RBC President and CEO Gordon Nixon Announces His Intention to Retire in August 2014 - Dave McKay Appointed as Successor

TORONTO, Dec. 5, 2013 /CNW/ - Royal Bank of Canada's President and Chief Executive Officer, Gordon Nixon, today announced his intention to retire effective August 1, 2014, after 13 years in this role.

In line with RBC's succession planning process, the Board of Directors today announced that Dave McKay, Group Head, Personal & Commercial Banking will be appointed as President at the Annual Meeting on February 26, 2014, and President and Chief Executive Officer effective August 1, 2014.

"Gord has had a remarkable career at RBC and during his 13 years as CEO earnings and market share have increased significantly in RBC's five business segments both in Canada and internationally. He led our organization to strong earnings growth during the most challenging financial crisis since the Great Depression and transformed the bank by putting the client first and fostering a culture of collaboration across the organization for the benefit of all stakeholders," said David O'Brien, Chair of the Board. "Under Gord's guidance, RBC has created a diversified business mix, become one of the world's largest global financial institutions, grown earnings from $2.4 billion to $8.4 billion, and generated compounded Total Return to Shareholders of 13.5 per cent a year," he added.

Mr. Nixon has received significant recognition over his tenure including being named Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year, being on Barron's list of the World's Best CEOs twice, and he is currently on Bloomberg's list of the World's 50 Most Influential People. He has been a leader in numerous institutional and community organizations, a passionate champion of diversity and inclusion, and has been awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario.

"One of the most important roles of a CEO is to develop strong management succession and I believe our executive team has never been stronger. I am confident that Dave McKay's outstanding leadership and financial services experience will continue to drive RBC's industry leadership and growth. I look forward to working with Dave and my colleagues on Group Executive during this transition period," noted Gord Nixon.

"I am honoured to be asked by the Board to lead this remarkable institution and to work with Group Executive to ensure we continue to invest in and grow our businesses. I am energized about leading our 79,000 employees who serve our more than 15 million clients globally and embody our values and brand in all that they do," said Dave McKay.

"The board is very confident in Dave's leadership given his track record of driving performance and investing for the long term with a focus on innovation for sustainable growth. He has been recognized as one of the top retail bankers internationally and has a demonstrated commitment to clients, employees and communities, helping them succeed in an ever-changing world. Dave's distinguished 25-year career at RBC, which includes retail banking, risk management, and international experience in corporate banking, ideally positions him to take RBC in to the future," noted Mr. O'Brien.

When Mr. McKay assumes the role of President on February 26, 2014, all business segments - Personal & Commercial Banking, Wealth Management, Insurance, Investor & Treasury Services, and Capital Markets - will report to him. Reporting to Mr. Nixon will be Mr. McKay as President as well as the Functional Group Heads.

RBC also announced that Mark Standish, Co-Group Head, Capital Markets and Investor & Treasury Services will be leaving RBC next year. In the interim he will work with RBC's trading businesses to facilitate transition under the changing regulatory regime in the United States.

"Mark has been a valued member of my Group Executive team. He has made a significant contribution in building the business globally, particularly in the United States, through some of the most challenging market conditions in recent memory. Under Mark's leadership we strengthened the RBC brand in New York, which helped attract and retain talent and clients. He is a strong contributor to the community through volunteer board memberships and other activities. Mark has made a lasting impact during his almost 18 years with RBC and on behalf of all my colleagues, I thank him for his contributions and wish him the very best," said Mr. Nixon.

Doug McGregor, currently Co-Group Head, Capital Markets and Investor & Treasury Services, will assume full responsibility for the businesses as Chair and CEO of RBC Capital Markets and Group Head, Capital Markets and Investor & Treasury Services (I&TS), effective immediately.

"Doug has been a great leader of our Capital Markets business and has led the expansion and re-balancing of this business where a much larger portion of earnings are now derived from corporate and investment banking, origination fees, and client-based activities in our trading businesses. Having Doug committed to leading Capital Markets and Investor & Treasury Services provides us great confidence in the continued growth of these businesses," said Mr. Nixon.

ABOUT RBC
Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) is Canada's largest bank as measured by assets and market capitalization, and is among the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, investor services and capital markets products and services on a global basis. We employ approximately 79,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 15 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 44 other countries. For more information, please visit rbc.com.

Image with caption: "Royal Bank of Canada's President and Chief Executive Officer, Gordon Nixon (L) and Dave McKay, Group Head, Personal & Commercial Banking (R) (CNW Group/RBC)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20131205_C7930_PHOTO_EN_34499.jpg

SOURCE: RBC

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