CIBC to Form Global Airlines and Aerospace Group; Hires Thomas Gallagher as Group Head and Luca Bettini as a Managing Director.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 1996--Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) today announced plans to establish CIBC Wood Gundy as the leading global provider of financial services to the worldwide airlines and aerospace industry, and that it has hired Thomas J. Gallagher as managing director and group head to lead the effort. Luca Bettini is also joining the new group as a managing director.

Based in New York, the group will be hiring and placing corporate finance professionals in CIBC Wood Gundy offices in Canada, Europe and Asia, in addition to the United States. Included among the services the bank and its CIBC Wood Gundy Securities affiliates will offer airline and aerospace clients are asset-based finance, structured trade finance, private placements, corporate financial advisory, derivatives, high yield debt and merchant banking.

CIBC Wood Gundy is the marketing banner under which CIBC and its investment dealer affiliates offer credit and capital market services to corporations, governments and institutions globally.

Gallagher most recently served as managing director and global airlines and aerospace executive at Chase Manhattan Bank and Bettini was a vice president in Chase's airlines and aerospace group. (Brief biographies follow.)

"This is a very positive development for our organization," said John Hunkin, president of CIBC Wood Gundy. "Tom Gallagher and Luca Bettini are internationally recognized for their outstanding service to the airlines and aerospace industry. Their experience and impressive track records make them ideal to lead our efforts in serving this important business sector. We expect to garner a significant share of the relevant industry revenues and earn a superior risk-adjusted return on invested capital."

He added that the current and projected health of airline and aerospace companies around the world is positive and that the buildup of CIBC Wood Gundy's involvement with the industry is part of its overall strategy of providing integrated corporate and investment banking services to major global businesses.

The new group will report to CIBC senior vice president Michael Goldhawk, managing director and head of the CIBC Wood Gundy Global Diversified Industries Group. With assets of U.S.$133 billion, CIBC is one of the 10 largest banks in North America and the second largest financial institution in Canada. It maintains its U.S. headquarters in New York and has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 1988, CIBC acquired a majority interest in Wood Gundy Inc., a leading Canadian investment dealer now known as CIBC Wood Gundy Securities Inc.

Headquartered in Toronto, CIBC Wood Gundy Securities Inc. has offices or subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States. Its U.S. subsidiary, CIBC Wood Gundy Securities Corp., has offices in New York and Boston. -0- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) is licensed to do business in the United States and is affiliated with CIBC Wood Gundy Securities Corp., a New York Stock Exchange member formerly known as Wood Gundy Corp. The CIBC and Wood Gundy trademarks are used under license. CIBC Wood Gundy Securities Corp. is solely responsible for its contractual obligations and commitments.

BIOGRAPHIES

Thomas J. Gallagher

Thomas Gallagher is a managing director and head of the CIBC Wood Gundy Global Airlines & Aerospace Group. He was formerly managing director and global airlines and aerospace executive at Chase Manhattan Bank, which he joined in March of 1988.

Gallagher began his career with Provident National Bank in Philadelphia. He joined Bank of America NT&SA in 1979 as part of its New York Corporate Office, then moved to Bankers Trust Company in 1983 as a vice president and relationship manager in its Investment Banking Department.

A prolific writer and speaker on aerospace topics, Gallagher has had articles published in Euromoney, China Economic Review, South China Morning Post, Singapore Business Times and publications of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. He is co-author of Handbook of Airline Economics, edited by Darryl Jenkins of New York University and published by McGraw-Hill in December 1995.

Gallagher holds a B.A. degree magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his M.B.A. degree in finance and accounting from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1975. He is an editorial advisor to the Journal of European Business and serves on the board of Seacor Holdings Inc.

Luca Bettini

Luca Bettini is a managing director in the CIBC Wood Gundy Global Airlines & Aerospace Group. He formerly served as vice president in the Global Aerospace Group at Chase Manhattan Bank, which he joined in 1983. During his seven years with the group, he was responsible for global financial advisory services to airlines, aircraft manufacturers and industry investors. Prior to joining the Chase aerospace group, he had account management duties for several multinational clients and was responsible for marketing the bank's capabilities in corporate finance.

He previously was the senior trade analyst in New York for ITAL Trade USA, an export-import company owned by the Italian government, and coordinator of data systems and procedures for a Texas subsidiary of British Rubber & Tire.

Bettini has a B.S. in management from the University of Massachusetts and an M.B.A. in finance from New York University.

CONTACT: Robert S. Cole

Marketing & Communications USA

[phone]

or

Heather Whyte

Corporate Communications Canada

[phone]