The court-approved settlement sets Nov. 18 as the deadline for eligible former Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) mutual fund holders to seek a conditional $32 payment from a C$11 million settlement.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved the settlement Dec. 22, 2025. The class generally includes people worldwide who held CIBC or Renaissance mutual fund units on or before Sept. 5, 2025, outside a discount broker. It excludes specified people, including the defendants and certain related parties, fund committee members and people who opted out. The allocation plan defines a discount broker as an entity providing order-execution-only services, or one performing a similar function before a rule defined the term.
Under the plan, 59.05% of the net settlement goes to former CIBC holders, 38.11% to current CIBC holders and 2.84% to Renaissance fund holders. Eligible former CIBC claimants must submit a claim with documentation of past holdings. The $32 payment is conditional: if the fund cannot cover every eligible claim, payments will be prorated. Current CIBC holders do not need to file, and allocations for current and former Renaissance holders will go into existing funds.
The C$11 million gross settlement will be reduced by legal fees, disbursements, a Class Proceedings Fund levy, administration expenses and a $500 plaintiff honorarium. The court approved $3,663,000 in legal fees, $476,190 in taxes on those fees and $47,231.83 in disbursements, inclusive of taxes. The settlement notice does not give a distribution date.
The lawsuit alleged that CIBC and CIBC Trust Corporation, along with CIBC Asset Management (CAM), paid trailing commissions to discount brokers from management fees drawn from CIBC and Renaissance fund assets. The defendants denied the allegations, and the settlement does not establish liability or wrongdoing. Class counsel describes a separate C$26 million settlement for discount-broker holdings from Sept. 18, 2003, to Jan. 25, 2024. Eligible former CIBC claimants must submit supporting documentation by Nov. 18, 2026.
