By James Langton

(January 24 – 16:00 ET) – CIBC chief executive John Hunkin says it’s up to the banks not the government to make bank mergers fly.

At the Merrill Lynch Canada, Year 2001, Canadian Banks’ CEO conference this morning Hunkin suggested that it would be up to the banks to sell the idea of mergers.

With the coming of promised new financial services legislation, some analysts have speculated that bank mergers are right around the corner. But Hunkin rejected that idea, suggesting that the new legislation won’t put us any closer to big bank mergers than we were the last time around.

The new legislation proposes a framework for merger approval, but it doesn’t set explicit hurdles that must be cleared to make mergers a certainty. Hunkin says that it will be up to the banks to convince the Canadian public that mergers are necessary, if indeed the banks believe they are. The opinion of government is far less significant he suggested.

While bank mergers were prominent in the minds of conference attendees, Hunkin gave an overview of CIBC’s strategy in its main business lines.

He touched on CIBC’s wealth management strategy, which includes converting the bank’s existing in-branch account manager sales force into licenced full-service brokers. “We are well along in the process of creating a new culture and attitude within Wealth Management … [to one] focused on sales and customer choice, rather than on product manufacturing,” said Hunkin.

In retail banking, CIBC plans to improve profitability through better customer segmentation and service.

The bank aims to exploit a niche strategy with its investment banking arm World Markets. Hunkin said CIBC is dominant in this business in Canada, and is starting to reap rewards in the United States, particularly from its merchant banking business.

Within Amicus Bank, CIBC’s bank-in-a-box, it plans to pursue aggressive customer acquisition. David Marshall, chairman & CEO of Amicus, appeared in the afternoon session to lay out its model.

While Amicus isn’t releasing numbers yet, Marshall says it does plan to give a more forthright explanation of the numbers behind its strategy in the coming year.