Carrie Cook, co-head of Canadian investment banking at Royal Bank of Canada, is leaving the firm for rival Bank of Montreal. 

Cook will join Bank of Montreal in April as global head of investment and corporate banking and remain based in Toronto, according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News. Cook, who has more than 25 years of experience in investment banking, spent more than a decade at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce before joining Royal Bank. 

“Carrie brings a significant depth of knowledge, strong longstanding relationships and a proven dedication to world-class client service,” BMO Capital Markets Chief Executive Officer Alan Tannenbaum said in the memo. “I look forward to building on our momentum and accelerating our business growth under Carrie’s leadership.”

Cook’s co-head at Royal Bank, Trevor Gardner, will continue to lead the firm’s domestic investment-banking division, according to a person familiar with the situation. 

Spokespeople for Royal Bank and Bank of Montreal couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Thursday. 

Brad Chapin, interim global head of investment banking at Bank of Montreal, will resume his previous role of global head of corporate banking in April, according to the memo.

Royal Bank has the largest capital-markets business among Canadian banks and placed first among domestic financial players in a Bloomberg league table of mergers-and-acquisitions activity in the country for 2023. Toronto-Dominion Bank was the next Canadian bank in the ranking, followed by Bank of Montreal.  

Royal Bank’s capital-markets division posted $4.14 billion in net income last year, up 23 per cent from 2022, in a challenging period for dealmaking.

Bank of Montreal — which was the most active Canadian investment bank for equity and equity-linked financings last year — reported net income of $1.68 billion in its capital-markets division in 2023, down 5.1 per cent from the previous year.