Significant transactions

6 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2021

Note 4. Significant transactions

Sale of FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited

On November 8, 2019, we announced that we had entered into a definitive agreement to sell 66.73% of the outstanding shares of FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited (CIBC FirstCaribbean) to GNB Financial Group Limited (GNB), subject to regulatory approvals, as discussed in Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements included in our 2020 Annual Report.

As a result of the lengthy regulatory review process, the worsening impact of the

COVID-19

pandemic on the Caribbean economy and our revised expectations concerning the likelihood and timing of a potential transaction, we discontinued the application of held for sale accounting of CIBC FirstCaribbean in the fourth quarter of 2020 and recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $220 million. On February 3, 2021, we announced that the proposed sale of CIBC FirstCaribbean to GNB did not receive approval from CIBC FirstCaribbean’s regulators and that the transaction will not proceed.