[5] In April 1995, CIBC Wood Gundy announced the acquisition of The Argosy Group, a New York-based investment banking firm involved primarily in the high-yield debt market.

The CIBC Capital Markets unit suffered a net loss of C$186 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 1998 which dragged down the performance of the parent bank's stock by almost one-third.

In 1999, CIBC Capital Markets backed Gary Winnick and his company Global Crossing to build optical fiber cable connections under the ocean.

[12] In 2000, CIBC realized a gain of $2.0 billion from its relatively small equity investment in Global Crossing, representing more than 20% of the bank's profits.

[13] As a result of these developments, the parent bank implemented a strategy to reallocate resources away from the riskier CIBC Capital Markets division in favor of its retail operations.

[17] Also in September 2003, a jury found that CIBC had failed to provide complete financial information to investors in a high-yield bond offering.

[18] Just a few months later, at the end of 2003, CIBC reached an $80 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over its various financings for Enron, representing far more than the bank had earned in fees.

[19] On February 29, 2008, CIBC Capital Markets Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Shaw was replaced in both capacities by Richard Nesbitt, a former TSX Group CEO.