Mr. Woods is a veteran financial services executive with experience in risk management, corporate strategy, finance, and the corporate and investment banking businesses. He began his nearly 40-year tenure at CIBC and its predecessor firms in its investment banking department and later served as Head of Canadian Corporate Banking, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Risk Officer, before retiring as Vice Chairman. As Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of CIBC during the financial crisis, Mr. Woods focused on risk management and CIBC's risk culture. He chaired CIBC's Asset Liability Committee, served as CIBC's lead liaison with regulators, and was an active member of CIBC's business strategy group. He brings international perspective, including to our European subsidiaries through his service on the Boards of Directors of Merrill Lynch International (MLI), our U.K. broker-dealer subsidiary, and BofA Securities Europe S.A. (BofASE), our French broker-dealer subsidiary.