Royal Bank of Canada Fires Female CFO: Affair with Employee Who Received Higher Pay and Promotions

The Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest bank, has sacked its chief financial officer after discovering that she was in a covert personal relationship with another employee who earned promotions and salary raises as a consequence.

The Toronto-based bank announced on Friday that Nadine Ahn’s employment, along with that of an anonymous employee, was “terminated” after it uncovered evidence that she breached RBC’s code of conduct.

The employee with whom Ahn had a connection was not identified. In fiscal 2023, Canada’s largest bank paid Ahn $3 million, a 25% compensation increase over the previous year. Ahn was the sole female CFO among the Big Six Canadian banks when she took up her former post in 2021.

Ahn has been at the bank for almost two decades before becoming its CFO in November 2021. RBC has named Katherine Gibson, another two-decade corporate veteran, as its temporary finance leader, effective immediately.

The bank has selected Katherine Gibson as interim CFO while it searches for a replacement.

According to The Sunday Times, famous female CEOs are substantially less likely to lose their jobs as a result of an undeclared relationship than male executives in comparable situations.

Last year, Bernard Looney, the former CEO of BP, was fired for failing to disclose personal contacts with workers.