TD Bank Group announced a slate of changes to its senior executive team, including a shuffling of top posts in its U.S. business, in a move with implications for succession planning at the Toronto company.
Greg Braca, currently group head of U.S. retail and CEO of the U.S. subsidiary bank, will assume a newly created role as vice chair of TD Bank in the U.S., the company said Thursday. In his new position, Braca will advise on new opportunities in the U.S. He will report to Bharat Masrani, president and CEO of the Canadian parent company.
Meanwhile, Teri Currie, the company’s group head of Canadian personal banking, plans to retire from her position by the end of January, and will join the bank’s U.S. board.
“We had previously thought Teri Currie and Greg Braca were both candidates to replace Bharat Masrani,” Royal Bank of Canada analyst Darko Mihelic wrote in a note to investors. “With Teri’s retirement now announced and Greg moving to a new role,” along with additional leadership changes, “succession is now even more difficult to predict.”
Back in June, Riaz Ahmed, formerly the bank’s chief financial officer, took over leadership of TD Securities. Ahmed has been viewed as another possible successor to Masrani, who has been CEO since 2014.
“Losing some well-known top executives once considered CEO candidates adds to some anxiety about succession,” Mihelic wrote. “TD is quick to point out it has a deep and experienced management team and we believe this to be true.”
Braca has been head of TD’s U.S. businesses since 2017. In Thursday’s announcement, the company credited him with expanding TD’s presence in “a critical growth market” and guiding the U.S. business through the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Greg has been instrumental in the success of our U.S. businesses and I look forward to his continued contributions to our performance," Masrani said in a press release.
At an industry conference in September, Braca highlighted a new credit card rewards program and real-time mortgage capabilities among recent developments in its U.S. business.
Leo Salom, group head of wealth management and insurance, was named to replace Braca as group head of U.S. retail and CEO of the U.S. bank.
Raymond Chun, who was most recently president of TD direct investing and executive vice president at TD Bank Group, will succeed Salom in heading up wealth management and insurance.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
