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Bill Downe, the longest-serving CEO among his peers at the Big Five banks, was awarded about $10.2-million last year, up from more than $9.9-million in 2014, after salary, bonuses and stock options are included.Michelle Siu/The Canadian Press

Bank of Montreal's chief executive officer received a 2-per-cent boost to his total compensation in 2015, thanks to a stronger U.S. dollar and more valuable stock options.

Bill Downe, the longest-serving CEO among his peers at the Big Five banks, was awarded about $10.2-million last year, up from more than $9.9-million in 2014, after salary, bonuses and stock options are included.

He was paid a salary of $1.5-million (U.S.), or nearly $1.9-million after conversion into Canadian dollars. That marks an increase of nearly $300,000 from last year after the U.S. dollar surged 20 per cent against the loonie in 2015. Mr. Downe's total equity compensation also rose by more than $300,000.

The increases made up for a decline in Mr. Downe's bonus, which fell below $1.4-million in 2015, down from $1.75-million in 2014 – a reduction made because of his higher salary.

"Mr. Downe is the most experienced CEO among the Canadian banks, and BMO's performance in 2015 was good, surpassing the record highs of 2014, delivering record results in Canadian personal and commercial banking, U.S. personal and commercial banking and wealth management and total shareholder return that was above the average of its Canadian peer group," BMO's compensation committee said in the bank's proxy circular.

Among other senior executives, Thomas Flynn, chief financial officer, received total compensation of $3.2-million, unchanged from 2014.

Frank Techar, chief operating officer, received nearly $5.6-million, up about 2 per cent.

Darryl White, group head of capital markets, received $6.4-million, up about 30 per cent from 2014, largely because of additional stock options and deferred share units.

Meanwhile, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's CEO, Victor Dodig, received total compensation of about $8.2-million in 2015, according to the bank's proxy circular released last week.

That marks an increase of 72 per cent from 2014, a gain that the bank's compensation committee said was largely due to the fact that fiscal 2015 marked Mr. Dodig's first year at the helm of CIBC.

He was paid a salary of $1-million, and was awarded a bonus and stock options totalling more than $7-million.

In his first full year as CEO, Mr. Dodig has made efforts to revamp the culture at CIBC, making it faster at adapting to consumer needs and improving its focus on technology. He has also made the bank more shareholder friendly by raising the quarterly dividend for six straight quarters.

Kevin Glass, CIBC's chief financial officer, received total compensation of nearly $2.8-million in 2015, up 4 per cent from 2014.

Harry Culham, group head of capital markets, received about $7.4-million, up 1 per cent.

David Williamson, group head of retail and business banking, received a 2-per-cent increase in his total compensation, taking it to about $4.9-million.

In its proxy, CIBC also addressed the results of its so-called "say on pay" vote last year, when shareholders soundly rejected the bank's $25-million retirement packages to two former executives.

"We were disappointed with our say on pay vote result last year, where only 43 per cent of voting shareholders supported our executive compensation approach," he proxy said.

"While our discussions with you confirmed your concerns were focused on retirement pay to our former chief executive officer and our disclosure of the CEO succession process, we nevertheless took from your vote a clear message that we need to do better," it said.

The compensation committee said that it had completed a comprehensive review of its executive compensation practices. Among the changes: The bank revised employment agreements for new executives to exclude certain equity grants in cases of termination.

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 27/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
BMO-N
Bank of Montreal
+0.43%96.38
BMO-T
Bank of Montreal
+0.32%130.77
CM-N
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
-0.46%50.07
CM-T
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
-0.66%67.9
MO-N
Altria Group
+1.25%43.66
O-N
Realty Income Corp
+2.22%53.77

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