A Canadian bank is making strategic banker hires in NYC

While Goldman Sachs and others trim staff in New York City and globally, some banks are still hiring. They include CIBC World Markets Corp, the Canadian investment bank that's in the process of trimming 5% of its staff. 

CIBC has 248 FINRA-registered employees in New York City, making it smaller than rivals like TD Securities (532 NYC-FINRA registered people) and RBC Capital Markets (1,370), but it nonetheless appears able to pull-in recruits from tier one rivals.

In recent weeks, for example, CIBC hired Amit Vasani from Citi as managing director and head of U.S. power and utilities, based in New York. Vasani joined after 20 years at Citi according to his LinkedIn profile. FINRA says he left Citi on October 30. 

CIBC also strengthened its NYC renewables platform in September, with Frank Palladino, a former managing director from boutique bank KPMG and CohnReznick Capital Markets Securities.

2020 has been a comparatively weak year for M&A bankers, with most large banks reporting declining year-on-year M&A revenues in the third quarter. However, banks also said deal pipelines are strong and that there's optimism about next year. 

Canadian investment banks are first to report their fourth quarter results and to allocate bonuses. CIBC's fiscal year-end is December 3 and bonus discussions are likely to take place the same week. 

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