CIBC U.S. Region Business Continuity Plan Overview

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) is a leading North American financial institution which provides financial services to more than nine million customers, including retail and small business banking customers as well as corporate and global investment banking customers. 

It is CIBC’s policy to provide for the continuity of business during unplanned disruptions, which may arise from natural, accidental, or engineered occurrences such as: 

• Ice storms, snowstorms, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, disease; 

• Fires, chemical spills, power/systems/utility/communication failures; 

• Civil unrest, arson, malicious damage, sabotage, acts of terrorism, and labor unrest. 

CIBC has a corporate-wide sound Business Continuity Management program in place for each of our strategic business lines. In the event of a disaster affecting CIBC’s operations, the program will support the following objectives: 

• Continuation of critical business functions according to approved, pre-determined recovery objectives, and 

• A timely, organized, and highly efficient return to full operations of all business functions. 

Alternative Strategies & Redundant Systems: 

Overall, the CIBC continuity of business strategy is to design, maintain, and validate alternate strategies so that critical business functions, technology, and contracted third party arrangements maintain acceptable levels of service.  Therefore, all critical business units are required to maintain robust alternative strategies that address the minimum continuity of business requirements to counter the effects of unplanned disruptions.  

Regular Testing: To ensure we have the ability to fulfill our obligations to our customers and business partners in an emergency, we conduct regular alternate strategy testing. Also, we conduct tests on individual applications and upgrades. As part of that testing, we ensure plans reflect new applications, changes to existing applications, and potential alternatives for process improvement. 

Preparedness: In the event of a disaster, every reasonable attempt will be made to restore and maintain normal service levels. All mission critical systems are recoverable within 2 to 4 hours. We anticipate that in the event of a disruption affecting a single building or affecting all of our New York City locations, recovery will be accomplished through the use of our defined alternate strategies. 

In addition, CIBC US Region Physical Security monitors various local, state, and federal intelligence sources to proactively identify and assess potential threats, ensure timely response to incidents, and maintain the safety and security of personnel, assets, and facilities. 

Access to Funds and Securities:  In the event that CIBC’s U.S. Operations in New York were unable to continue business, then CIBC would perform the necessary functions through alternative channels to provide clients with prompt access to their funds and securities. 

Limitations: 

We are confident in our business continuity plans which have been developed and tested to support the continuation of critical business functions under unforeseen conditions of disaster, which may arise from a natural, accidental, or engineered occurrence. However, due to the unpredictability of disasters and the potential impact on critical infrastructures (i.e., public utilities, exchanges, private and public transportation) and/or critical suppliers we cannot guarantee that our business will always be available or recoverable after a disaster or significant business disruption. No contingency plan can eliminate all risks. We continually assess and update our plans to mitigate all reasonable risk. 

Amendments: 

The above summary is subject to change without prior notice. Any material changes will be promptly posted on our website and will be available to clients upon request at: CIBC World Markets Corp. (US Broker-Dealer) Disclosures.