RBC taps Stopnik to lead global investment-banking unit

Article content

Royal Bank of Canada has adopted a global structure for its investment-banking business and tapped Matthew Stopnik to head up the division.

Stopnik, 52, who’s based in New York, will report directly to directly to Derek Neldner, chief executive officer and group head of RBC Capital Markets, the bank’s overall capital-markets and investment-banking unit.

Article content

As part of the reorganization, Canada’s largest lender has formed three global groups within investment banking and named new leaders for each. Trevor Gardner, 47, will lead global investment-banking coverage in Toronto; Jim Wolfe, 59, becomes head of global investment-banking capital markets in New York; and Ben Mandell, 45, will be global head of mergers and acquisitions in Toronto.

Dominic Hudson will continue to lead the international business as head of Europe and Asia-Pacific investment banking, based in London.

The changes are meant to help the bank increase “global coordination while still focusing on growing and extending our position in each market and celebrating the nuances and differences across our regions,” Neldner said in an emailed statement.

Royal Bank is in eighth place on the global investment-banking league tables and has been pushing for more market share in the U.S. But it’s still No. 1 in its home market and has a 10 per cent market share in Canada.

“Maintaining this market-leading position is critical and core to our strategy,” Neldner said.

Article content

Three bankers are now running RBC Capital Markets’ main business lines and reporting to Neldner — Stopnik, corporate-banking head Patti Shugart and global-markets chief Jonathan Hunter.

Wolfe and Stopnik were previously co-heads of U.S. investment banking. Gardner was co-head of Canadian investment banking, with Carrie Cook, who left the firm earlier this year and recently joined Bank of Montreal as global head of investment and corporate banking.

On top of the investment-banking changes, Royal Bank tapped Vito Sperduto, 54, to lead its U.S. capital-markets business. He will report to Neldner and join the bank’s US executive committee.

“Vito’s appointment reflects our increased focus on the U.S. as our second home market, and the importance of the bank’s overall U.S. strategy as a driver of growth,” Neldner said.

Bloomberg.com

Share this article in your social network