David Kassie, chief executive officer of CIBC World Markets, issued the following statement concerning the tragedy in the United States and its impact on CIBC's employees and operations in New York:
"None of us can fail to have been touched by what has happened. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to the families and friends of the victims of this terrible tragedy.
"To the best of our knowledge, no CIBC employees lost their lives and only a handful sustained injuries - none of which are life-threatening. We have not, however, yet been able to contact all of our employees and we are currently making every effort to complete that process.
"Some of CIBC's New York operations, including some of our trading activities, were located at One World Financial Center, several hundred feet from the World Trade Center. These offices, housing approximately 2,000 employees, were successfully evacuated prior to the collapse of the towers. That facility will remain closed until further notice. We have activated our Business Recovery Plan, which entails the relocation of critical activities to our large, 425 Lexington Avenue location in mid-town Manhattan, as well as to other sites in the United States and in Canada. We are confident that this Business Recovery Plan will become fully operational by the time US markets reopen and we remain fully committed to serving our customers."