CIBC Forms Global Energy-Transition Group in Investment Bank

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is forming a global energy, infrastructure and transition group within its investment-banking operations.

The unit, which will be led by Mike Freeborn and David Williams, will comprise its global infrastructure and power and global energy investment banking teams, Toronto-based CIBC said in an internal announcement Wednesday. The group will have members located around the world, and Williams will relocate to New York in coming months, the company said.

The new group will break down silos between the different teams to give clients the broader package of services that the energy transition is necessitating, Roman Dubczak, CIBC's head of global investment banking, said in an interview. For example, clients working on toll roads will need to understand how electric vehicles and charging stations will factor into those projects, he said.

“It's a very natural evolution of where our clients were taking us,” Dubczak said. “We shape our business around our clients' objectives and ambitions, and more and more we saw our teams cross-collaborating and exchanging ideas.”

Additionally, Kelsen Vallee will become head of energy transition within the team, handling advisory and capital-raising activities while reporting to Freeborn and Williams. His main focus will be on technologies including carbon capture, hydrogen and adjacent fields, Dubczak said.

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