Louis Vachon (; born 1962) is a Canadian banker,

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of property. Types of in ...

, and

business executive A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations gr ...

. He is the former

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

National Bank of Canada The National Bank of Canada () is the sixth largest commercial bank in Canada. It is headquartered in Montreal, and has branches in most Canadian provinces and 2.4 million personal clients. National Bank is the largest bank in Quebec, and the se ...

, the 6th largest bank in Canada. Louis Vachon announced his intention to retire on October 31, 2021, after nearly 15 years in the role. He has been CEO since 2007, previously serving as the bank's

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

. Before taking a full-time position at the bank, he was the president and CEO of National Bank Financial Group, the 4th largest investment bank in Canada. He was named CEO of the Year by

Canadian Business ''Canadian Business'' is the longest-publishing business magazine based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and founded in 1927. The print edition terminated in the end of 2016. Beginning in January 2017, the magazine was published online only. In Octob ...

in 2014, and the following year he received mixed media coverage for being the highest compensated banking executive in the country. Vachon is an Officer of the ''

Ordre national du Québec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (National ...

''. He is a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

and of th
''Ordre de Montréal''
and a recipient of th
Global Citizens Award
from th
United Nations Association in Canada

Early life and education

Vachon was born in 1962, in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. His great grandmother Rose-Anna Vachon, started an eponymous pastry company in Beauce and his father served as the Dean of School of Business at Sherbrooke University. He spoke about his upbringing in Canadian Business, stating, "Being a successful business person was highly valued in our family." He entered

Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...

, in Lewiston, Maine in 1979 and became interested in finance early on.

Paul Erdman Paul Emil Erdman was a Canadian-born American economist and banker who became known for writing novels based on monetary trends and international finance. Early life Erdman was born in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, on 19 May 1932 to an American Luth ...

's ''The Billion Dollar Sure Thing'' played a role in his interest and shaped his early thoughts on financial markets. Vachon graduated from college in 1983, with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

, and went on to graduate from The Fletcher School of Tufts University, with an M.A.

international finance International finance (also referred to as international monetary economics or international macroeconomics) is the branch of monetary economics, monetary and macroeconomics, macroeconomic interrelations between two or more countries. Internation ...

. Vachon is a

chartered financial analyst The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program is a postgraduate professional certification offered internationally by the US-based CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research, or AIMR) to investment and financia ...

(CFA).

Banking career

Vachon began his career in 1985 at

Citibank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

and joined Lévesque Beaubien Geoffrion in 1986. He then moved to

Bankers Trust Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corp ...

in 1990 where he stayed for six years.

National Bank Financial

Vachon became the president and chief executive officer of Innocap Investment Management, a subsidiary of National Bank of Canada in 1996. In 1997, he became a vice president in the firm, charged with its treasury and overseeing its financial markets. He eventually became the CEO and president of National Bank Financial, the 4th largest investment bank in Canada. During the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, the investment bank was one of the only financial institutions to see profit through the crisis. In early 2009, the board of the bank offered him a $1.9 million bonus for his actions during the crisis.

National Bank of Canada

Vachon was appointed President and Chief Executive of

on February 2, 2007. In November 2012, Vachon announced that the bank was letting go of nearly 300 jobs in order to tighten expenses and create a streamlined infrastructure. The move was seen, as well, as an economic contraction and had caused

Moody's Investor Service Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histori ...

to reduce the bank's credit rating down one level while also projecting it might drop it down two levels at the conclusion of the month. Despite the drop in

credit rating A credit rating is an evaluation of the credit risk of a prospective debtor (an individual, a business, company or a government). It is the practice of predicting or forecasting the ability of a supposed debtor to pay back the debt or default. The ...

, the bank stated that Vachon's vision for the future remained unchanged. His compensation totaled $7,618,503 in 2015, with a base pay of $1,083,333, with other compensation adding up to $6,344,803. Although he heads the 6th largest bank in Canada, he was the most compensated banking executive in 2015. He was criticized for sitting on too many boards as CEO, however Vachon rebutted the claim saying that it was "odd" to say to a CEO, "you can’t sit on an external board even though your company is a major shareholder." In a December quarterly

earnings call An earnings call is a teleconference or webcast in which a public company discusses its financial results for a reporting period, often providing earnings guidance for future performance. The term stems from earnings per share (EPS), calculated ...

with investors and analysts, Vachon stated that the bank had increased positive

operating leverage Operating leverage is a measure of how revenue growth translates into growth in operating income. It is a measure of leverage, and of how risky, or volatile, a company's operating income is. Definition There are various measures of operating lev ...

in its

common equity Common equity is the amount that all common shareholders have invested in a company. Most importantly, this includes the value of the common shares plus retained earnings and additional paid-in capital. History Under the Basel III banking agreement ...

and increased its quarterly

dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders, after which the stock exchange decreases the price of the stock by the dividend to remove volatility. The market has no control over the stock price on open on the ex ...

twice during the fiscal year—close to 7%.

Personal life

Vachon resides in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec. On November 25, Vachon along with the Mayor of Montreal,

Denis Coderre Denis Coderre (; born July 25, 1963) is a Canadian politician who served as the 44th mayor of Montreal from 2013 to 2017. Coderre was involved in federal politics as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, serving as the member of Parliame ...

, unveiled an art installation piece that displayed along a six-kilometre (3.73 mile) stretch of Autoroute 20 in honor of Montreal's 375th anniversary. He said that Montreal was "a dynamic city with a reputation for innovation" later noting that "every day, hundreds of thousands of people travel along the stretch of highway between the airport and downtown Montreal, nd this art piece will beexactly what people will see as they drive into town."

Awards and honours

Vachon has received numerous awards and honors for his work in Canadian investment banking and corporate leadership. * Named one of "Canada's Top 40 Under 40" (2001) * Financial Personality of the Year by Finance et Investissement (2012) * Inducted as Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of

Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. Lineage File:FMR Colours.jpg, The regimental colour of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal. File:FMR Camp Flag.jpg, The camp flag of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal. File:Fusilie ...

, Montreal (2011) * Named CEO of the Year by Canadian Business magazine (2014) * Financial Personality of the Year by Finance et Investissement (2014) * Honorary doctorate by

Bishop's University Bishop's University () is a small English-language Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Diocese of Quebec, Anglican Bishop of Quebec ...

(2015) * Honorary doctorate by

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

(2016) * Awarded the Global Citizens Award from the

United Nations Association in Canada The United Nations Association in Canada (UNA-Canada) is a historic charitable organization focused on multilateralism in Canada. Established in 1946, UNA-Canada was a founding member of the World Federation of United Nations Association. Missio ...

(2016) * Appointed as a Member of the

(2016) * Appointed as a Member of th
''Ordre de Montréal''
(2018) *Appointed Officer of the ''

'' (2019) * Honorary doctorate by Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) (2017) *Honorary doctorate by

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

(2019) *Honoured by

Right to Play Right To Play is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to use play to empower vulnerable children to overcome the effects of war, poverty, and disease. Right To Play's work is connected to the UN's Sustainable Development Goa ...

during The Heroes Gala (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vachon, Louis 1962 births Bates College alumni Canadian chief executives The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni Canadian bankers Canadian chief operating officers Living people Members of the Order of Canada National Bank of Canada people CFA charterholders Businesspeople from Quebec