TORONTO, March 13 (Reuters) - Canadian lender CIBC

on Thursday named capital markets head Harry Culham as

its next CEO, replacing Victor Dodig who will retire in October

after over a decade at the top.

Culham will serve as chief operating officer effective April

1 and take over as CEO on November 1, Canada's fifth largest

lender said.

As part of CIBC's executive shakeup in September, Culham

took on additional responsibility to oversee the bank's global

asset management business and enterprise strategy, along with

CIBC's Caribbean business.

Culham will take the top seat during a challenging time for

big Canadian banks amid economic uncertainties due to the trade

war between the U.S. and Canada.

"I understand risk quite well, (It is) one of my strengths

... We're not worried," Culham said in an interview.

"We can control the controls, and we think we're good at

that. We went through COVID, we've been through other ups and

downs."

The big five lenders have expanded south of the border

seeking growth opportunities outside of home but have met many

challenges.

More recently, the banks have raked in large profits from

wealth and capital market segments, that typically are fee-based

and high margin businesses.

CIBC has focused on growing its mass affluent and private

wealth franchise in Canada and the U.S while building its

digital footprint in Canada and growing its capital markets

unit.

"I'm really focused on the bank overall ... I don't see the

strategy changing," Culham said.

Culham first joined CIBC in Vancouver as an intern,

participating in the bank's graduate programs. He held senior

banking roles in Europe and Asia before rejoining CIBC in 2008

and taking over as the head of the capital markets segment in

2015.

Under Dodig's leadership, CIBC expanded its U.S. footprint

and also built the bank's presence at home by adding new clients

through the purchase of Costco's Canadian credit card

portfolio.

The bank's U.S. commercial lending book, however, faced

challenges in 2023 due to higher exposure to the troubled U.S.

office space compared to peers, but has taken steps to reduce

the impact.