# City National Bank (RBC): AI strategy

Source: https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/city-national
Last updated: Oct 13, 2026

*A turnaround bank inside one of the most AI-invested parents in banking: RBC targets $700 million to $1 billion of value from AI by 2027, while City National rebuilds risk controls, recruits bankers and heads for Texas.*

## How is City National using AI?

City National Bank is Royal Bank of Canada's US bank, and its AI is largely inherited. RBC has run an AI research institute, Borealis AI, since 2016, runs AI agents built with Borealis in its capital-markets research arm, targets $700 million to $1 billion of incremental enterprise value from AI by 2027 in its 2025 annual report, and told analysts in December 2025 that its return-on-equity target could rise further depending on AI deployment. City National itself has spent 2024–2026 recovering: after a $65 million OCC penalty and consent order announced on 31 January 2024 for systemic risk-management deficiencies, a $31 million redlining settlement in 2023 and heavy remediation spending, RBC's CEO said in August 2025 the bank was 'back on its front foot', recruiting commercial and private bankers; by the quarter to July 2026 its net income was up 61% year on year to $184 million and the parent was talking about adding bankers in Texas and possibly acquisitions. The bank's public AI voice is Jaya Kandaswamy, senior vice-president for product, AI and innovation, who frames agentic AI as a contest over 'who controls the customer relationship'; its commercial-banking president says leadership discusses 'sometimes weekly' where the bank needs to be on AI and how it will affect clients and vendors. A Fifth Third alumni team, executive chair Greg Carmichael and CEO Howard Hammond, runs the turnaround, RBC plans to migrate City National to the RBC brand, and expansion offices opened in Charlotte and Greenville in December 2025. No City National-specific AI budgets, use-case counts or headcount effects have been disclosed.

## At a glance

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Lead bank | City National Bank |
| Ticker | RY |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, CA (US); Toronto (RBC) |
| Consolidated assets | $99,947 million |
| Federal Reserve rank | 30 |
| Charter | National bank (OCC); subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada |

## What AI partnerships and patents does City National Bank have?

City National's AI partnerships and patents are RBC's. The bank's own public record names no AI vendor, and no AI patent in City National Bank's name turned up in a Google Patents assignee search on 13 October 2026. RBC's group record names Cohere, NVIDIA, Anthropic, Databricks and MIT CSAIL, mostly through Capital Markets and Borealis AI, and Royal Bank of Canada holds granted US patents on ML fairness testing, ML monitoring and suspicious-destination detection that map onto the fair-lending, model-risk and fraud topics in the OCC order. None of these is tied by RBC to City National. ([PYMNTS](https://www.pymnts.com/artificial-intelligence-2/2026/rbc-embeds-ai-at-the-core-of-banking-aiming-for-1-billion-in-returns/), [RBC via PR Newswire](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/rbc-and-cohere-partner-to-develop-the-next-generation-of-highly-secure-generative-ai-solutions-for-financial-services-302346783.html), [FinAi News via ABA](https://aba.com/-/media/documents/industry-insights/finai-rbc-head-of-ai.pdf?rev=ce5657d28c5a4bc296b3c3281700dcfd), [RBC via CNW (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rbc-joins-massachusetts-institute-technologys-130100007.html), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US12651042B2/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US12417407B2/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US12079813B2/en))

| Item | What it is | Status | Date | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Borealis AI | RBC's AI research institute, founded 2016; builds the group's models and Aiden with Capital Markets | In production (group) | 2016 | [RBC](https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/preparing-our-workforce-for-a-future-with-ai), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbcs-bobby-grubert-is-44-on-the-most-innovative-people-in-finance-ranking) |
| Cohere | Co-development of 'North for Banking', a secure genAI workspace for financial services (RBC group) | Announced | 2025-01-09 | [RBC via PR Newswire](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/rbc-and-cohere-partner-to-develop-the-next-generation-of-highly-secure-generative-ai-solutions-for-financial-services-302346783.html) |
| NVIDIA | Aiden agents built on NVIDIA AI Enterprise in RBC Capital Markets | In production (Capital Markets) | 2026-03-23 | [PYMNTS](https://www.pymnts.com/artificial-intelligence-2/2026/rbc-embeds-ai-at-the-core-of-banking-aiming-for-1-billion-in-returns/) |
| Anthropic and Databricks | Aiden built with NVIDIA and Anthropic; Databricks used to embed governed genAI in Capital Markets | In production (Capital Markets) | 2026-05-04 | [FinAi News via ABA](https://aba.com/-/media/documents/industry-insights/finai-rbc-head-of-ai.pdf?rev=ce5657d28c5a4bc296b3c3281700dcfd) |
| MIT CSAIL FinTechAI | RBC research membership on AI in the future of finance | Member | 2025-07-18 | [RBC via CNW (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rbc-joins-massachusetts-institute-technologys-130100007.html) |
| US 12,651,042 B2 | System and method for machine learning fairness testing (Royal Bank of Canada) | Granted | 2026-06-09 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US12651042B2/en) |
| US 12,417,407 B2 | System and method for machine learning monitoring (Royal Bank of Canada) | Granted | 2025-09-16 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US12417407B2/en) |
| US 12,079,813 B2 | Identifying suspicious transaction destinations from login-page referrals (Royal Bank of Canada) | Granted | 2024-09-03 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US12079813B2/en) |

## Flagship platform: RBC Borealis and the parent's AI programme

City National's AI capability comes from Toronto. RBC founded its AI research institute, Borealis AI, in 2016 and its capital-markets arm runs the Aiden platform, developed with Borealis AI, whose AidenResearch agents automate earnings content, call summaries and filing access; its 2025 annual report targets $700 million to $1 billion of incremental enterprise value from AI by 2027, and its researchers won the agentic-retrieval challenge at the 2025 ACM conference on AI in finance. At City National the visible AI leadership is Jaya Kandaswamy, senior vice-president for product, AI and innovation, who speaks publicly on agentic AI and 'who controls the customer relationship'. The bank's own 2026 priorities, as its president of commercial banking put it, are recruiting, the Southeast expansion and watching 'AI disruptions' among clients and vendors. ([RBC](https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/preparing-our-workforce-for-a-future-with-ai), [PYMNTS](https://www.pymnts.com/artificial-intelligence-2/2026/rbc-embeds-ai-at-the-core-of-banking-aiming-for-1-billion-in-returns/), [RBC](https://www.rbc.com/investor-relations/_assets-custom/pdf/ar_2025_e.pdf), [RBC](https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/rbc-researchers-win-global-ai-challenge-for-finance), [American Banker](https://virtual-summits.americanbanker.com/profile/jaya-kandaswamy), [City National Bank](https://cnb.com/content/dam/cnb/library/publishers/los-angeles-business-journal/media/L-A-Business-Journal-Joe-Yurosek-riding-winds-of-change-20260302-2656973.pdf))

## Key points

- Parent capability: Borealis AI since 2016, the Aiden agent platform in capital markets, $700 million to $1 billion of AI-driven enterprise value targeted by 2027, and a first-place finish in the 2025 ICAIF agentic-retrieval challenge.
- The turnaround comes first: a $65 million OCC penalty (31 January 2024) and remediation spending; 'back on its front foot' (RBC CEO, August 2025); net income up 61% to $184 million in the quarter to July 2026.
- AI leadership at the bank: SVP Jaya Kandaswamy for product, AI and innovation; the commercial-banking president says AI is discussed 'sometimes weekly' with respect to clients and vendors.
- Growth plan: recruiting bankers, Charlotte and Greenville offices (December 2025), Texas hiring and a mortgage build-out; acquisitions only if they create 'meaningful shareholder value' (August 2026).
- Brand and management: a Fifth Third alumni leadership (Carmichael, Hammond, Yurosek); migration toward a single RBC brand in the US announced at the March 2025 investor day.
- Disclosure: no bank-level AI budgets, use-case counts or headcount figures; the Borealis platform and RBC targets are the only quantified AI record.
- The OCC order is the compliance frame: a consent order of 31 January 2024 citing noncompliance with the OCC's heightened standards since 31 December 2020 and Bank Secrecy Act violations. It requires periodic independent validation of the models and filtering thresholds in the BSA/AML monitoring systems; it does not mention AI.
- The technology rebuild is a cost line RBC says is about to fall: on 9 September 2026 CEO Dave McKay said City National's 'significant remediation efforts and our re-platforming efforts' would 'start to come down' from the end of 2026 into 2027, and on 27 August he said RBC is 'building a capability to roll another bank on to those platforms'.
- Technology and control owners are named: Michael Palmer is executive vice-president, head of technology and RBC's US chief information officer; David Cameron became the bank's first chief operating officer in June 2026 over a unified group for operations, controls and change management; Price Sloan is chief risk officer and Marc Fisher chief compliance officer.
- The only disclosed AI in a City National-inclusive business line is in RBC's 2025 40-F: US Wealth Management, which includes City National, lists 'enhancements to the digital platform with AI-powered insights' among its 2025 investments.
- RBC set up a group-level AI Group on 18 February 2026 under Bruce Ross, reporting to the CEO; RBC reports nearly 27,000 employees on RBC Assist and 8,000 Capital Markets staff on Aiden, but does not say how many City National staff use either.
- Scale: $100.10 billion of assets, $82.40 billion of deposits and $69.48 billion of gross loans at 31 July 2026, with more than 4,900 employees and 71 branches (bank-reported).

## Timeline

- Sep 10, 2026 — **Chad Lloyd to lead RBC U.S. Mortgage from City National** Senior vice-president and head of RBC U.S. Mortgage, reporting to COO David Cameron; ex-Comerica and Truist, where he was head of transformation in the SunTrust and BB&T integration. ([City National Bank via PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chad-lloyd-joins-city-national-bank-to-lead-rbc-us-mortgage-302875610.html))
- Sep 9, 2026 — **McKay at Scotiabank summit: remediation and re-platforming costs to fall; AI credit tools built** City National earned US$183 million (CAD 230 million) before remediation and re-platforming cost reductions that start from the end of 2026; RBC is deploying AI for commercial auto-adjudication and credit adjudication ('built, and we just demoed it to the board') and names mortgages as its largest AI use case. The adjudication tools are described at RBC level; City National is not named as a user. ([Investing.com](https://investing.com/news/transcripts/royal-bank-of-canada-at-scotiabank-summit-ai-growth-lift-returns-93CH-4893978))
- Sep 1, 2026 — **CFO Chris Doll leaves for KeyCorp** After nearly three years as City National's finance chief. ([Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/keycorp-taps-city-national-fifth-third-alum-as-strategy-chief/829317/))
- Aug 27, 2026 — **Wealth head: AI use cases funded inside the existing technology budget** Neil McLaughlin, CEO of RBC Wealth Management, says AI work on adviser productivity, back-office streamlining and 'AI for Alpha' sits within existing technology funding with no step-up required; US Wealth Management includes City National. ([The Motley Fool](https://fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/31/rbc-ry-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript))
- Aug 27, 2026 — **Q3 call: US efficiency ratio 75%; remediation costs still falling** RBC's US region efficiency ratio is 75% year to date against a low-70s target. McKay says RBC is accelerating AI execution toward $700 million to $1 billion of enterprise value by fiscal 2027, and that City National is part of a 'change in investment in our platform, our risk platforms, our tech platforms'. ([The Motley Fool](https://fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/31/rbc-ry-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript), [RBC](https://rbc.com/investor-relations/_assets-custom/pdf/2026q3speech.pdf))
- Aug 27, 2026 — **Third-quarter call: City National on shared RBC platforms** McKay says a new global transaction banking business integrates technology platforms across commercial banking, Capital Markets and City National, and that City National is building the capability to roll another bank onto its platforms. ([GuruFocus (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/royal-bank-canada-ry-q3-230145385.html), [The Motley Fool](https://fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/31/rbc-ry-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript))
- Aug 27, 2026 — **Texas on the map; net income up 61%** $184 million for the quarter to July; deposits up 5%; acquisitions possible if they create value. ([American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/texas-is-on-rbcs-map-to-grow-its-city-national-bank-unit))
- Jul 24, 2026 — **New head of personal and business banking** Lindsay Dunn named executive vice-president; the bank announced the appointment on 21 July 2026. ([American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/list/bny-and-nubank-ceos-join-openai-board-shake-up-at-old-national), [City National Bank](https://www.cnb.com/about-us/media/press-releases/2026/lindsay-dunn-personal-business-banking.html))
- Jun 9, 2026 — **RBC granted US patent on machine-learning fairness testing** US 12,651,042 B2, assigned to Royal Bank of Canada, automates fairness assessment of ML model architectures; the filing cites credit-decision bias as its example. No disclosure that City National uses it. ([Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US12651042B2/en))
- Jun 3, 2026 — **David Cameron named City National's first COO** A newly unified COO group integrates bank-wide operations, controls and change management; reports to CEO Howard Hammond. Cameron joined in 2005; the bank has more than 4,900 employees and 71 branches. ([City National Bank](https://www.cnb.com/about-us/media/press-releases/2026/david-cameron-chief-operating-officer.html), [FinTech Futures](https://fintechfutures.com/job-cuts-new-hires/rbcs-city-national-bank-promotes-david-cameron-to-coo))
- May 27, 2026 — **RBC researchers win the ICAIF agentic-retrieval challenge** Borealis AI first among global teams on financial-filing analysis. ([RBC](https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/rbc-researchers-win-global-ai-challenge-for-finance))
- May 4, 2026 — **RBC Capital Markets AI head describes Aiden's build and partners** Aiden built with NVIDIA and Anthropic and a Cohere-designed interface, deployed to all 8,000 Capital Markets employees; Databricks cited for governed genAI. ([FinAi News via ABA](https://aba.com/-/media/documents/industry-insights/finai-rbc-head-of-ai.pdf?rev=ce5657d28c5a4bc296b3c3281700dcfd))
- Mar 2, 2026 — **'AI disruptions. It's here.'** The commercial-banking president on weekly discussions of AI's impact on clients and vendors. ([City National Bank](https://cnb.com/content/dam/cnb/library/publishers/los-angeles-business-journal/media/L-A-Business-Journal-Joe-Yurosek-riding-winds-of-change-20260302-2656973.pdf))
- Feb 18, 2026 — **RBC creates an AI Group under Bruce Ross** Reports to the CEO. Almost 27,000 employees use RBC Assist and 8,000 Capital Markets employees use Aiden; RBC cites 1,200+ patent filings since 2019, 635 related to AI. Group-level; City National usage is not broken out. ([RBC via CNW (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rbc-creates-ai-group-help-140100667.html))
- Jan 5, 2026 — **RBC on preparing its workforce for AI** Borealis AI, founded 2016, described as a core strategic enabler. ([RBC](https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/preparing-our-workforce-for-a-future-with-ai))
- Dec 15, 2025 — **Charlotte and Greenville offices open** The Carolinas push, part of the Southeast expansion. ([PR Newswire via FT Markets](https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202512151100PR_NEWS_USPRX____SF47596-1), [Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/rbc-city-national-bank-charlotte-greenville-carolina-offices/808040/))
- Dec 3, 2025 — **RBC's 40-F: AI-powered insights in the US wealth digital platform** US Wealth Management, the segment that includes City National, lists 'enhancements to the digital platform with AI-powered insights', RBC Premium Savings and record adviser recruitment among its 2025 investments. ([Royal Bank of Canada (SEC filings)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1000275/000119312525305927/d95203dex2.htm))
- Dec 3, 2025 — **RBC's 40-F: City National's year was about risk controls** The annual report says City National focused on risk management across the three lines of defence, and lists AI, including GenAI, among emerging technologies that call for investment to manage risk. ([Royal Bank of Canada (SEC filings)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1000275/000119312525305927/d95203dex2.htm))
- Dec 3, 2025 — **RBC raises its return target; AI could lift it further** ROE of at least 17% by 2027; another revision possible depending on AI deployment. ([American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbc-lifts-its-return-target-downplays-interest-in-u-s-m-a))
- Aug 27, 2025 — **'Back on its front foot'** Net income of $114 million for May–July 2025, the best in three years; remediation costs falling. ([American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbcs-city-national-bank-is-back-on-front-foot-ceo-says))
- Jun 4, 2025 — **Kandaswamy joins American Banker panel on fraud and identity verification** Session at Digital Banking on tools used to verify and authenticate customers and mitigate fraud risk; the speaker page lists her as SVP, Product, AI and Innovation, leading initiatives that integrate AI into digital banking. ([American Banker](https://digital-banking.americanbanker.com/speaker/jaya-kandaswamy))
- Mar 27, 2025 — **RBC's revised US strategy** Cross-selling, a mortgage expansion and a move toward one RBC brand; Fifth Third alumni lead the turnaround. ([American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbc-plans-mortgage-expansion-under-revised-us-strategy))
- Jan 9, 2025 — **RBC and Cohere to co-develop 'North for Banking'** A group-level generative-AI platform for financial services, to integrate with RBC's internal platforms; RBC said advisers in its advice centre and Capital Markets research analysts already used genAI. ([RBC via PR Newswire](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/rbc-and-cohere-partner-to-develop-the-next-generation-of-highly-secure-generative-ai-solutions-for-financial-services-302346783.html))
- Jan 31, 2024 — **OCC assesses $65 million penalty and issues consent order** Systemic deficiencies in operational, compliance, strategic and investment-management risk management; noncompliance with the OCC's heightened standards since 31 December 2020; Bank Secrecy Act violations. The order requires independent validation of the models and filtering thresholds in the BSA/AML monitoring systems and a fair-lending risk-management programme; it does not mention AI. The bank said its focus was 'strengthening our infrastructure and systems'. ([OCC](https://occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2024/nr-occ-2024-8.html), [OCC](https://occ.gov/static/enforcement-actions/eaAA-ENF-2024-08.pdf), [Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/rbc-city-national-65-million-penalty-occ-risk-management-bsa-aml-fair-lending/706295/))

## Where AI runs

| Use case | What | Status | Detail | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Aiden agent platform (RBC Capital Markets) | In production | Developed with Borealis AI on NVIDIA AI Enterprise; AidenResearch agents automate earnings content, call summarisation, data-catalogue analysis and real-time filing access for the parent's Global Research division. | [PYMNTS](https://www.pymnts.com/artificial-intelligence-2/2026/rbc-embeds-ai-at-the-core-of-banking-aiming-for-1-billion-in-returns/), [RBC](https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/preparing-our-workforce-for-a-future-with-ai) |
| [Trading & capital markets](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#trading-markets) | Agentic retrieval over financial filings (Borealis research) | Pilot | Award-winning research on finding and interpreting information in complex filings. | [RBC](https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/rbc-researchers-win-global-ai-challenge-for-finance) |
| [AI governance (general)](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#governance-general) | Post-remediation risk management | In production | Controls rebuilt after the 2024 OCC order; the frame for any AI deployment at the bank. | [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbcs-city-national-bank-is-back-on-front-foot-ceo-says) |
| [Model risk management](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#model-risk) | Emerging-technology risk in RBC's annual report | In production | RBC's 2025 MD&A says the adoption of AI, including GenAI, calls for continued focus and investment to manage risks, alongside City National's three-lines-of-defence rebuild. | [Royal Bank of Canada (SEC filings)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1000275/000119312525305927/d95203dex2.htm) |
| [Customer-facing chatbots](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#customer-chatbots) | AI-driven product innovation | Announced | Led by the SVP for product, AI and innovation; specifics undisclosed. | [American Banker](https://digital-banking.americanbanker.com/speaker/jaya-kandaswamy) |
| [AML / KYC](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#aml-kyc) | BSA/AML monitoring models under the OCC order | In production | The January 2024 consent order requires periodic independent validation of the models and filtering thresholds used in City National's BSA/AML monitoring systems, plus documented threshold analysis and testing. The order does not say whether those models use machine learning, and the bank has not described AI in AML. | [OCC](https://occ.gov/static/enforcement-actions/eaAA-ENF-2024-08.pdf), [OCC](https://occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2024/nr-occ-2024-8.html) |
| [Fair lending & discrimination](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#fair-lending) | Fair-lending programme and ML fairness testing | Announced | The consent order requires a fair-lending risk-management programme; Marc Fisher oversees fair lending and CRA. RBC holds a granted patent for automated fairness testing of ML models (US 12,651,042 B2, June 2026); the bank has not said City National uses it. | [OCC](https://occ.gov/static/enforcement-actions/eaAA-ENF-2024-08.pdf), [City National Bank](https://www.cnb.com/about-us/leadership/marc-fisher.html), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US12651042B2/en) |
| [Credit scoring & underwriting](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#credit-underwriting) | AI commercial credit and auto-adjudication (RBC) | Rolling out | McKay told the Scotiabank summit that RBC is 'just starting to deploy' AI for commercial auto-adjudication and credit-submission preparation, built and demonstrated to the board; he places it in RBC commercial banking and does not name City National. | [Investing.com](https://investing.com/news/transcripts/royal-bank-of-canada-at-scotiabank-summit-ai-growth-lift-returns-93CH-4893978) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | AI-powered insights in the US wealth digital platform | In production | RBC's 2025 40-F lists 'enhancements to the digital platform with AI-powered insights' under US Wealth Management, the segment that includes City National; no product name, user count or model vendor is given. | [Royal Bank of Canada (SEC filings)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1000275/000119312525305927/d95203dex2.htm) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Adviser productivity and back-office AI (RBC Wealth Management) | Announced | On the Q3 2026 call the head of RBC Wealth Management said AI use cases are funded inside existing technology spend, aimed at adviser time with clients, back-office cost and service levels, and 'AI for Alpha' in asset management. | [The Motley Fool](https://fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/31/rbc-ry-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript) |

## Disclosed numbers

| Measure | Value | As of | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| RBC incremental enterprise value from AI, target | $700 million – $1 billion by 2027 | Dec 2, 2025 | [RBC](https://www.rbc.com/investor-relations/_assets-custom/pdf/ar_2025_e.pdf) |
| City National net income, quarter to July 2026 | $184 million, up 61% year on year | Aug 27, 2026 | [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/texas-is-on-rbcs-map-to-grow-its-city-national-bank-unit) |
| OCC penalty for risk-management deficiencies | $65 million (assessed 31 January 2024) | Aug 27, 2025 | [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbcs-city-national-bank-is-back-on-front-foot-ceo-says) |
| Total assets | ≈ $98 billion | Dec 16, 2025 | [Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/rbc-city-national-bank-charlotte-greenville-carolina-offices/808040/) |
| Total assets | $100.10 billion, up from $93.00 billion a year earlier | Jul 31, 2026 | [City National Bank](https://cnb.com/content/dam/cnb/brands/city-national-bank/documents/financials/city-national-bank-at-a-glance-q3-2026.pdf) |
| Deposits and gross loans | $82.40 billion of deposits; $69.48 billion of loans and leases | Jul 31, 2026 | [City National Bank](https://cnb.com/content/dam/cnb/brands/city-national-bank/documents/financials/city-national-bank-at-a-glance-q3-2026.pdf) |
| Assets under management; under management or administration | $83.87 billion; $113.14 billion | Jul 31, 2026 | [City National Bank](https://cnb.com/content/dam/cnb/brands/city-national-bank/documents/financials/city-national-bank-at-a-glance-q3-2026.pdf) |
| Common equity Tier 1 ratio | 15.1% | Jul 31, 2026 | [City National Bank](https://cnb.com/content/dam/cnb/brands/city-national-bank/documents/financials/city-national-bank-at-a-glance-q3-2026.pdf) |
| RBC US region efficiency ratio, year to date | 75%, against a target in the low 70s | Aug 27, 2026 | [RBC](https://rbc.com/investor-relations/_assets-custom/pdf/2026q3speech.pdf), [The Motley Fool](https://fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/31/rbc-ry-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript) |
| Employees and branches | More than 4,900 employees; 71 branches | Jun 16, 2026 | [FinTech Futures](https://fintechfutures.com/job-cuts-new-hires/rbcs-city-national-bank-promotes-david-cameron-to-coo) |
| RBC employees on AI assistants (group, not City National) | Almost 27,000 on RBC Assist; 8,000 Capital Markets staff on Aiden | Feb 18, 2026 | [RBC via CNW (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rbc-creates-ai-group-help-140100667.html) |

## Quotes

> "City National is now on its front foot and recruiting commercial bankers, recruiting private bankers, adding clients." — Dave McKay, President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada, Aug 27, 2025 ([American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbcs-city-national-bank-is-back-on-front-foot-ceo-says))

> "And we'll see AI disruptions. It's here. It's helping our clients. Our clients are adapting to this change. The unknown is just to the extent of who it will disrupt next." — Joe Yurosek, President, Commercial Banking, Mar 2, 2026 ([City National Bank](https://cnb.com/content/dam/cnb/library/publishers/los-angeles-business-journal/media/L-A-Business-Journal-Joe-Yurosek-riding-winds-of-change-20260302-2656973.pdf))

> "as we've gone through all of this change in investment in our platform, our risk platforms, our tech platforms. Increasingly, we're building a capability to roll another bank on to those platforms." — Dave McKay, President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada, Aug 27, 2026 ([The Motley Fool](https://fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/31/rbc-ry-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript))

> "And that's before we've taken out any of the real cost of our significant remediation efforts and our re-platforming efforts, which will start to come down the end of 2026 into 2027." — Dave McKay, President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada, Sep 9, 2026 ([Investing.com](https://investing.com/news/transcripts/royal-bank-of-canada-at-scotiabank-summit-ai-growth-lift-returns-93CH-4893978))

> "We're just starting to deploy artificial intelligence into commercial auto adjudication and credit adjudication." — Dave McKay, President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada, Sep 9, 2026 ([Investing.com](https://investing.com/news/transcripts/royal-bank-of-canada-at-scotiabank-summit-ai-growth-lift-returns-93CH-4893978))

> "David's appointment as COO marks a pivotal moment for City National Bank as we align our teams and capabilities to better serve our clients and achieve our growth ambitions." — Howard Hammond, President and CEO, City National Bank, Jun 3, 2026 ([City National Bank](https://www.cnb.com/about-us/media/press-releases/2026/david-cameron-chief-operating-officer.html))

## Who runs AI

- **Howard Hammond** — Chief Executive Officer, City National Bank (ex-Fifth Third) ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardhammond1/)) ([American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbc-plans-mortgage-expansion-under-revised-us-strategy), [City National Bank](https://cnb.com/content/dam/cnb/library/publishers/los-angeles-business-journal/media/L-A-Business-Journal-Joe-Yurosek-riding-winds-of-change-20260302-2656973.pdf))
- **Greg Carmichael** — Executive Chair, RBC US; former Fifth Third CEO ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregdcarmichael/)) ([American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbc-plans-mortgage-expansion-under-revised-us-strategy))
- **Jaya Kandaswamy** — SVP, Product, AI and Innovation ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkanda/)) ([American Banker](https://virtual-summits.americanbanker.com/profile/jaya-kandaswamy), [American Banker](https://digital-banking.americanbanker.com/speaker/jaya-kandaswamy))
- **Joe Yurosek** — President, Commercial Banking ([City National Bank](https://cnb.com/content/dam/cnb/library/publishers/los-angeles-business-journal/media/L-A-Business-Journal-Joe-Yurosek-riding-winds-of-change-20260302-2656973.pdf), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbc-plans-mortgage-expansion-under-revised-us-strategy))
- **Dave McKay** — President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-mckay-4189071/)) ([American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbcs-city-national-bank-is-back-on-front-foot-ceo-says), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/texas-is-on-rbcs-map-to-grow-its-city-national-bank-unit))
- **Michael Palmer** — Executive Vice President, Head of Technology and Chief Information Officer, City National; also RBC's US CIO, with a mandate that includes regulatory remediation and US technology strategy across City National, RBC Wealth Management (US), Global Asset Management (US), RBC Bank (Georgia) and Capital Markets (US) ([City National Bank](https://www.cnb.com/about-us/leadership/michael-palmer.html))
- **David Cameron** — Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (new role, June 2026; unified group for bank-wide operations, controls and change management) ([City National Bank](https://www.cnb.com/about-us/media/press-releases/2026/david-cameron-chief-operating-officer.html), [FinTech Futures](https://fintechfutures.com/job-cuts-new-hires/rbcs-city-national-bank-promotes-david-cameron-to-coo))
- **Price Sloan** — Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer (joined May 2023 from Wells Fargo; owns the risk management framework) ([City National Bank](https://www.cnb.com/about-us/leadership/price-sloan.html))
- **Marc Fisher** — Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer; RBC US chief compliance officer (oversees fair lending and CRA) ([City National Bank](https://www.cnb.com/about-us/leadership/marc-fisher.html))
- **Steve Comer** — Executive Vice President, Governance, Risk and Controls Office (regulator liaison; ran Wells Fargo's Consent Program Office before joining in March 2023) ([City National Bank](https://www.cnb.com/about-us/leadership/steve-comer.html))
- **Bruce Ross** — Group Head, AI, Royal Bank of Canada (since February 2026; reports to the CEO; previously 12 years as Group Head, Technology and Operations) ([RBC via CNW (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rbc-creates-ai-group-help-140100667.html))
- **Foteini Agrafioti** — SVP Data and AI and Chief Science Officer, RBC (Borealis AI; teaches the RBC executive AI course for senior executives and board members in Canada and the US) ([RBC](https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/preparing-our-workforce-for-a-future-with-ai), [RBC via CNW (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rbc-joins-massachusetts-institute-technologys-130100007.html))
- **Bobby Grubert** — Head of AI and Digital Innovation, RBC Capital Markets (Aiden platform) ([FinAi News via ABA](https://aba.com/-/media/documents/industry-insights/finai-rbc-head-of-ai.pdf?rev=ce5657d28c5a4bc296b3c3281700dcfd), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbcs-bobby-grubert-is-44-on-the-most-innovative-people-in-finance-ranking))

## Regulators it answers to

- [OCC](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/occ) — City National is a national bank operating under the 2024 OCC action on risk management; any AI deployment is examined inside that remediation. See [OCC Bulletin 2026-13](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/occ-bulletin-2026-13), [OCC Semiannual Risk Perspective, Spring 2026](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/occ-semiannual-risk-perspective-spring-2026).
- [Federal Reserve](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/federal-reserve) — RBC US Group Holdings is the intermediate holding company; the Borealis platform is a group-provided service under third-party and affiliate guidance. See [SR 23-4](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/fed-sr-23-4), [SR 26-2](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/fed-sr-26-2).
- [CFPB](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/cfpb) — Consumer and private banking with a redlining settlement in its past make fair-lending controls on any AI in credit decisions central. See [ECOA / Regulation B adverse action (15 U.S.C. 1691(d); 12 CFR 1002.9)](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/cfpb-ecoa-regulation-b-adverse-action).
- [State of California](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/california) — A Los Angeles-based bank with California consumers falls under the CPPA's automated-decision rules. See [CPPA ADMT, risk-assessment and cybersecurity-audit regulations](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/ca-cppa-admt-risk-cyber-regulations-2025).

## What the record suggests

### The parent's AI is the bank's opportunity and its dependency

Borealis gives City National capability most $100 billion banks cannot build; the question examiners will ask is how a group platform is governed inside a US bank still under an OCC order.

### Remediation sets the pace

A bank rebuilding risk management is right to sequence AI behind controls; the cost is that peers report agent counts while City National reports recruiting.

### Agentic AI as a customer-relationship question

The bank's AI lead frames agents as a fight for who owns the client; for a private-banking and entertainment-industry franchise, relationship control is the whole business model.

### Brand migration will change what 'City National AI' means

If the US business becomes RBC-branded, AI disclosure will move to Toronto's annual report, where the $700 million to $1 billion target already lives.

## FAQ

### What is City National Bank's AI strategy?

It is largely RBC's. The parent has run Borealis AI since 2016, runs AI agents built with Borealis in capital markets, and targets $700 million to $1 billion of incremental enterprise value from AI by 2027. At City National, an SVP for product, AI and innovation leads the work, but the bank has not disclosed budgets, use-case counts or headcount effects, and its 2024–2026 priority has been risk-management remediation and banker recruiting.

### Who runs City National Bank?

CEO Howard Hammond and executive chair of RBC's US operations Greg Carmichael, both formerly of Fifth Third, lead a turnaround that RBC's CEO Dave McKay says has the bank 'back on its front foot'. RBC has said it plans to migrate the US business toward a single RBC brand.

### Who leads AI at City National Bank?

City National's public leadership page names no chief AI officer. Jaya Kandaswamy, SVP for product, AI and innovation, is its public AI voice. Michael Palmer, executive vice-president and head of technology, is also RBC's US chief information officer; David Cameron became COO in June 2026 over operations, controls and change management. Group AI sits in Toronto: Bruce Ross has been RBC's Group Head, AI since February 2026, reporting to CEO Dave McKay, and Foteini Agrafioti runs Borealis as chief science officer.

### How does the OCC consent order affect City National's use of AI?

The 31 January 2024 consent order carried a $65 million penalty and cites unsafe or unsound risk management, noncompliance with the OCC's heightened standards since 31 December 2020 and Bank Secrecy Act violations. It does not mention AI, but it requires periodic independent validation of the models and filtering thresholds in the BSA/AML monitoring systems and a fair-lending programme. RBC said on 9 September 2026 that remediation and re-platforming costs would start to fall from the end of 2026 into 2027, so AI spending competes with that rebuild.

### Does City National use RBC's AI platforms such as Aiden, RBC Assist and Borealis?

Not stated. Aiden is described as a Capital Markets platform with 8,000 users; RBC Assist has almost 27,000 users group-wide; neither disclosure breaks out City National. The one City National-inclusive AI disclosure is in RBC's 2025 40-F, where US Wealth Management lists 'AI-powered insights' in its digital platform. RBC's executive AI course covers senior executives and board members in Canada and the United States, and McKay says City National sits on the same technology and risk platforms as the rest of the US business.

## Sources (40)

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2. Royal Bank of Canada (RY) (Q3 2026) Earnings Call Highlights — GuruFocus (Yahoo Finance), Aug 27, 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/royal-bank-canada-ry-q3-230145385.html
3. Tech @ RBC: Preparing our workforce for a future with AI — RBC, Jan 5, 2026. https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/preparing-our-workforce-for-a-future-with-ai
4. RBC 2025 Annual Report ($700 million to $1 billion incremental enterprise value from AI by 2027) — RBC, Dec 2, 2025. https://www.rbc.com/investor-relations/_assets-custom/pdf/ar_2025_e.pdf
5. RBC researchers win global AI challenge for finance — RBC, May 27, 2026. https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/rbc-researchers-win-global-ai-challenge-for-finance
6. RBC Estimates $1B in Revenue by Embedding AI in Core Banking — PYMNTS, Mar 23, 2026. https://www.pymnts.com/artificial-intelligence-2/2026/rbc-embeds-ai-at-the-core-of-banking-aiming-for-1-billion-in-returns/
7. Jaya Kandaswamy, SVP, Product, AI and Innovation, City National Bank (Virtual Summits profile) — American Banker, Aug 7, 2026. https://virtual-summits.americanbanker.com/profile/jaya-kandaswamy
8. Jaya Kandaswamy, SVP, Product, AI and Innovation, City National Bank (Digital Banking speaker) — American Banker, May 20, 2025. https://digital-banking.americanbanker.com/speaker/jaya-kandaswamy
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24. Steve Comer, Executive Vice President, Governance, Risk and Controls Office (leadership profile) — City National Bank, Oct 13, 2026. https://www.cnb.com/about-us/leadership/steve-comer.html
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26. RBC's City National Bank promotes David Cameron to COO — FinTech Futures, Jun 16, 2026. https://fintechfutures.com/job-cuts-new-hires/rbcs-city-national-bank-promotes-david-cameron-to-coo
27. Lindsay Dunn Named Head of Personal & Business Banking at City National Bank — City National Bank, Jul 21, 2026. https://www.cnb.com/about-us/media/press-releases/2026/lindsay-dunn-personal-business-banking.html
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